Seeds in Styrofoam Cups

Have any of you, when you were small, gotten a styrofoam cup and some dirt and planted a seed? You watered it, placed it near a window, and waited. You came back the next day and nothing, but depending on what kind of seed you planted, in about a week you would see a stem with two leaves poking out of the ground. How does all that work? I do not know, but I know it works because it was created that way. If the seed gets what it needs, it grows.

That seems to be part of the lesson in Mark 4:26-29. The man sows seeds, and they grow. How, he does not know. I believe Jesus is paralleling physical seed to spiritual seed. In the context of the chapter, we have the parable of the soils in verses 13-20. I believe Jesus is saying that when you plant the word of God in people’s lives, it can grow, but you cannot make it grow any more than you can make okra seeds grow. Our job is to sow the seed but not to make the seed grow. When the seed does grow and produce a crop, we want to be willing to harvest it.

What are some lessons for us? Our job is to sow the seed of God’s word. I want to sow good seed, and the seed is the word of God and only the word of God. I want to do what I can to give the seed the best opportunity to grow, but I cannot make it grow. I find myself guilty of trying to make the seed grow and in return receive frustration and aggravation. I am just a seed sower. The Bible says the soil produces crops which sounds like each individual has to decide if they are going to let the seed grow. We need to let the seed and soil do their jobs. I need to jump back in when the seed has grown in their soil (hearts) and they are ready to give their lives to Christ. Are you sowing the seed?

Practice

The first week of NFL football is now complete. Teams have been preparing for this for a while. They have been practicing for some time now. For most teams we got to see what all the excitement was about Sunday. Some teams performed well and some teams not so well. All those teams will say something to the effect of, “We will learn from this game and move on to the next game.” As I thought about the football season, I saw some parallels to the Christian life.

We have “practice” as well. By practice, I mean we go to Bible class, worship, gospel meetings, Vacation Bible School, our own personal study, etc. to learn God’s plays. We learn what God wants and how to do what he wants us to do in our daily lives. We need good practices. The old saying of “you play like you practice,” I believe is true. So we need to have good Bible teaching so that we know what to do and how to do it. But at some point we have to take all that practice and put it into play. James says “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” What good does it do for me to study the word of God and not live it out in my life?

Some teams played well this weekend; some did not. In taking up our cross daily and trying to live out the word of God, sometimes we are going to do well, and sometimes we are not going to do well. How do we handle that? Just like those teams, we look for things that did not go right and work on those, and we build on the things that did go right. How do I know what went wrong? Those things that were not in line with the word of God. How do I know what went right? Those things that were in line with the word of God. Go out there and play your best (live your life) for the one who gave His life for you.

The Eyes of the Lord

I wrote about going to Polishing the Pulpit last week, and I want to continue that theme this week. I mentioned this in my sermon Sunday night but wanted to expand on it. Driving down Interstate 40 is like driving in the Indianapolis 500. I try to drive the speed limit. I believe the Bible teaches us to obey the laws of the land (Romans 13:1-5). When you drive the speed limit, you are just in some people’s way, and they are not very patient about that fact. They will get behind you and honk or flash their lights. When they get to pass you, they might greet you with the middle finger or zoom past. This seemed to be especially bad this time for some reason. Driving seventy miles an hour down the interstate, some people passed me like I was standing still. That is, until they all started slowing down. Why? Traffic, an accident, a change of heart? No, just our friendly state troopers.

That is when I start passing people. The guy doing one hundred now cannot get his car above sixty-five. It reminds me of being a kid. The teacher would leave the room, and chaos would ensue. When the teacher would be back, we would all be polishing our halos. We thought we were getting away with something until we found out she had been listening over the intercom. I want my kids to do the right thing whether they think I am watching or not. I get that when they were younger, you would have to watch and train, but as they have grown up, I hope they do the right thing because it is the right thing and not out of fear of punishment.

Do you think God might desire that as well? As obedient children we do what He has taught us because we love Him, not because we are scared He is watching and going to punish us. Just because you do not see God physically in front of you does not mean He does not see (Proverbs 15:3). Let’s honor Him with our lives today.