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Seed Time and Harvest Time!
Part II
Last week we looked at
various aspects of sowing as an agricultural metaphor.
We read Matt. 13:24-30, and considered the global condition.
God has sown good seed, but an enemy has sown “darnel”
(false grain). This false grain – called by Jesus, “the sons of the wicked one”
- grows up right along side the good grain and is often undetectable. Jesus
prescription is to “Let both grow together until the harvest” lest if
you gather up the tares prematurely you also uproot the wheat.
Then, in Is. 5:1-7 we read and agricultural metaphor that
narrowed the lens to Israel, and we saw example of how God removed His
cultivation and hand of protection and allowed natural consequences to fester.
Finally we read Mat. 13:3-9 and saw example of how good
seed, as is the Word of God, is sown liberally in the human heart, yet may
fall on different types of “soil” producing a variable result.
Today we will consider our
own sowings in the form of our actions.
Author Stephen Covey, once said, “Sow a thought, reap an
action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a
character, reap a destiny.”
Though we are not saved
by our actions (works) God is looking for that, “hundredfold, some sixty, some
thirty” fold crop, (Mat 13:8) in the life of every believer.
Christ’s imperative is
that we would, “bear much fruit”, that, “My Father is glorified”.
Our Scripture focus for
today is Rom. 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to
those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Before we were saved – before we knew God – we could do
nothing of any eternal value. We were dead in our sins and trespasses. We may
have done noble things, we may have done nice things, we may have done
seemingly Godly things, but we were dead spiritually.
“But God, who is rich
in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were
dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” Eph. 2:4,5
We believe, by faith, that He who is able to rescue us from
the bondage of sin, which brings forth death, is also able to sustain us in
that rescued posture. He has set us on a trajectory, so even if we veer off
that trajectory by indulging in old sinful behaviors, He is willing and able to
draw us back. Phil. 1:6, “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it
until the day of Jesus Christ.”
The natural consequences of actions that we sow may yet
remain, from either side of salvation. And that may very well be factor that
determines our fruit of one hundred, or sixty, or thirty fold.
The consequences of sins we commit after we are saved may,
well be harsher since God Himself, “chastens”, whom He loves, and “scourges
every son whom He receives.” Heb.12:6
So, don’t be surprised!
Instead, be encouraged, because chastening is the seal, and
proof of His love for you.
His intent is always
that we would abide in Him and bear fruit unto righteousness. It could be a
long road, but we can determine, from the agricultural dynamic, that if we tend
to our field, and sow seeds of righteousness, it will choke out the tares and
yield a good harvest.
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ADVENT BONUS
As always, we invite all to go to mt4christ.org where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from A.W. Tozer’s Advent Devotional – From Heaven, for Day 9 , as this current resource series will lead us to Christmas Eve.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes
and encourage all to purchase A.W. Tozer’s books for your own private study and
to support his work.
DAY 9
THE REDEMPTIVE PLAN
He came to that which was his own,
but his own did not receive him.
JOHN 1:11
In earlier verses in John’s gospel
record, we have read in remarkably brief and simple words of the eternal past
and of the eternal Son. We are told that from the beginning He was God; that He
made all things, and that in Him was light and that in Him was life.
Surely, these powerfully simple
words and phrases are at the root of all theology. They are at the root of all
truth.
How thrilling it is for us, then, to
receive in these two words, He came, the confirmation of the incarnation, God
come in the flesh!
I confess that I am struck with the
wonder and the significance of the limitless meaning of these two words, He
came. Within them the whole scope of divine mercy and redeeming love is
outlined.
All of the mercy God is capable of
showing, all of the redeeming grace that He could pour from His heart, all of
the love and pity that God is capable of feeling—all of these are at least
suggested here in the message that He came!
Beyond that, all of the hopes and
longings and aspirations, all of the dreams of immortality that lie in the
human breast, all had their fulfillment in the coming to earth of Jesus, the
Christ and Redeemer.
Man has always been a hopeful
creature, causing Milton to write that “hope springs eternal in the human
breast.” Even fallen man continues to be an aspiring creature. We are reminded
that while mired in the pigsty, the prodigal remembered his father’s house, and
within himself pondered the question of “What am I doing here?”
All of our hopes and dreams of
immortality, our fond visions of a life to come, are summed up in these simple
words in the Bible record: He came! I suppose it is the editor nature within me
to note that I am impressed with the fact that these two one-syllable words
occupy only seven spaces in a printed line. But what these two words tell us is
more profound than all of philosophy, and I am not using the superlative
carelessly in this context.
There are times when the use of the
superlative is absolutely necessary and you cannot escape it. The coming of
Jesus Christ into this world represents a truth more profound than all of
philosophy, for all of the great thinkers of the world together could never
produce anything that could even remotely approach the wonder and the
profundity disclosed in the message of these words, He came!
These words are wiser than all
learning. Understood in their high spiritual context, they are more beautiful
than all art, more eloquent than all oratory, more lyric and moving than all
music—because they tell us that all of mankind, sitting in darkness, has been
visited by the Light of the world!
Oh, I am sure that we are all too
passive about what this really means! When we sing “The Light of the world is
Jesus,” there should be a glow on our faces that would make the world believe
that we mean it.
Tozer, A. W. (2016). From heaven: a 28-day advent devotional. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers
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