From The
Pastor’s Desk
Pastor Randy Barnett, Oklahoma
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.”
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 He 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 and it does absolutely nothing for the
man. 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 the man of God had
to teach him. However, once he leaves
the confines of the church, Satan and his evil cohorts begin to arouse
persecution against him 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 proclaiming, “Oh well, I guess
I just can’t live that Christian life!”
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!
Pastor Randy
Barnett
