It was the end of July and vacation bible school was wrapping up for the summer. I and about another 100 kids were packed into our small rural church listening to some guy talk about Jesus. I didn’t know much at the time but accepting Jesus just felt right. This guy speaking was asking anyone who wanted to accept Jesus into his or her hearts to come to the front. Luckily for me, I had just been up on stage playing a game for a prize so it was no big deal. I still got my brother and cousin and made sure we headed up together because we were all in it together. I remember after that church service being as excited as I was for Christmas to come that year. I don’t experience that kind of joy very much as an adult but wish I did. I was so excited that night that we spent the whole drive home calling everyone one we knew and telling them that we accepted Jesus into our hearts. Never a second thought. Sometimes I wish I could think more like that now.
Luke 8 has many stories and miracles but the one that really stuck out to me was the parable about the sower.
4 And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
After this parable Jesus explained to the disciples on what it meant. I really enjoyed the way the message version explains it.
11-12 “This story is about some of those people. The seed is the Word of God. The seeds on the road are those who hear the Word, but no sooner do they hear it than the Devil snatches it from them so they won’t believe and be saved.
13 “The seeds in the gravel are those who hear with enthusiasm, but the enthusiasm doesn’t go very deep. It’s only another fad, and the moment there’s trouble it’s gone.
14 “And the seed that fell in the weeds—well, these are the ones who hear, but then the seed is crowded out and nothing comes of it as they go about their lives worrying about tomorrow, making money, and having fun.
15 “But the seed in the good earth—these are the good-hearts who seize the Word and hold on no matter what, sticking with it until there’s a harvest.
I can easily see these seeds in my own life. I have had times where I feel like I have been on fire and the Holy Spirit was with me. I have also had times where I choose to not listen and to ignore the love of my heavenly father. I can bet that you can relate to that too. The good news is that God is patient, God is kind, God keeps no record of wrong because he died for us. We are saved by grace and nothing we do will ever make us worthy enough to not need God. So if you feel like you are one of those seeds who fell among the thorns and there is no chance that you are good enough, I can promise you are.
God is always knocking; you just need to open the door.
I wanted to write about the day I accepted Jesus for a couple reasons. One is that even though I accepted Jesus, I truly didn’t know what it meant to have a relationship with him and that relationship suffered because of that. Secondly, I wanted to let you know that God died for all sins and will always love you. It’s not a young person thing to do. No matter how old you are, it is never too late.
Enjoy your Thursday and be praying for those seeds in your life who may have fallen into the wrong plot of land. I promise that they are never too far away to come back to God.