From
The Pastor
Pastor Randy Barnett
CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF
CHRIST
What a wonderful thing it is to serve Jesus! Just think about it, if you have received
Jesus as your personal Savior, you not only have the assurance of eternal life,
but you have the promise from God of an abundant life here on earth! See what Jesus says to you in this beautiful
verse of Scripture:
“The thief does not come
except to steal, and to kill and to destroy, I have come that they
may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John
10:10
One very important aspect of this abundant life that you are
promised by Jesus is the privilege of Him living within you. That’s right! The Spirit of Jesus – the Holy Spirit – came to live in you the
instant you received Jesus as Lord. In
that instant you became something very important to God; you became His son –
just like Jesus. See what God’s will for you really is:
“For whom He foreknew, He
also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son,
that He might be the firstborn of many brethren.” Romans 8:29
His will for you is to become conformed to the image of
Jesus. In other words, you are to look
like Him, speak like Him, think like Him, and act like Him. You might say, “Wow! I could never be like Jesus!” You may not feel like you can, but that is
exactly what your heavenly Father desires of you and that is what is developing
you into as you feed on His Word and worship Him and serve Him.
Even though what we have just discussed is true, what I
observe within the Church of Jesus Christ is Christians not living the abundant
life despite the promises of God. What
a tragedy! It is not God’s will for us to live beneath His promised blessings;
therefore, let us press on to solve this issue within ourselves. We may not be able to do much about what
others do, but we can make whatever changes are necessary inside us to conform
to the perfect will of God, and I am confident that is what you desire to do.
Take a few moments and read our text passage found in Matthew
13:1-23. This is probably a familiar
passage to you but let’s allow our Teacher (the Holy Spirit) to lead us into
deeper levels of truth from it, shall we?
In verses 3-9 we see Jesus tell a simple story to the crowd, a story
about farming. These folks were farmers
so they could identify with the parable.
But it is interesting to note that Jesus did not explain the spiritual
aspects of His parable to the crowd, but He did explain the story to His
disciples. Why did Jesus do this? He explains why in verses 10-17.
Jesus explains a very important truth, and that is that the
different soil types made the difference in what the seeds could or could not
do. Even though the same seeds were
used in each situation, the yield was quite different with each. Let us study each soil type and from this
study come to understand the necessity for you and me to prepare our hearts so
that we might receive the Word of God (which is the seed) and that we might be
productive in the Kingdom of God.
#1 Soil type (verse 19) is actually the bar ditch alongside
the road. The ditch is not intended to
be a crop-producing area, so every seed that lands in the ditch becomes food
for the birds. Spiritually speaking,
this is like it is when someone who has no interest at all for the things of
God hears the truth of God’s Word. The
devils quickly consume it - how sad is this man’s lot.
#2 Soil type (verse 20) is stony ground. In fact, it might look a lot like the
surface of the road itself. It is like
rock! Notice that this man received the
Word with joy. He sat there in that
worship service and feasted on the good things from the man of God. However,
once he leaves the church, Satan and his evil cohorts begin to arouse
persecution because of the truth he heard.
The Bible says he stumbles because of the persecution. In other words, he backslides and perhaps
goes back to his old ways.” His heart
had not been properly prepared, that is why the Word did no good for him.
#3 Soil type (verse 22) contains thorns and stickers. This
soil definitely has problems as it relates to growing a crop, doesn’t it? This man too has heard the Word and received
it. But his problem is one of
priorities. The cares of life that
challenge him and the pursuit of riches stand between him and being
fruitful. He does not stumble, as did
the second man, he simply fails to be fruitful for the Kingdom of God. He is
not the light in the darkness. Others
do not see the fruit of the Spirit in his life. He leads no one to Jesus. His acts of kindness are few and far between. Why?
Because he has failed to be fervent in the Word and he has failed to
really make Jesus the Lord of His life, giving Him priority over everything
else.
#4 Soil type (verse 23) is what you want to be. This man was ready when the Word was planted
in his heart. He came to church
expecting to receive from God and was not disappointed. He then went away carefully doing what he
had been taught. He is the man who
seeks the Lord daily in prayer and Bible study. He is a true worshipper of God.
He is about the business of the Kingdom 24/7 because of the love in his
heart for Jesus. His life is
fruitful. This man has become conformed
to the image of Jesus! Go now and be
like the fourth man.
