Winning people for Jesus: "It all depends upon the soil that the seed is falling on!"
Luke 8:8 “Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”
As I read this scripture this morning and reflect upon my own life I can see that I was bad soil for most of my life; in fact, anyone spending time on me would have been wasting their time. In fact, them spending time on me was hurting the Kingdom more than helping. However, when my life became completely broken my life turned into good soil; I was ready to hear the word of God and allow it to be planted down deep in my soul and when this happened a transformation occurred. Through this transformation God began to do a work in me that produced a harvest, a hundred fold. This has nothing to do with me (my gifts, my abilities) but this has to do with followers of Jesus planting God’s seed on good soil and the grace of God bringing it to a harvest a hundred fold. How could have Jim, Wayne, and Steve ever have known that there willingness to sow seed on good soil would be the beginning of God’s harvest that would lead to the birth of a new community of faith. The fact of the matter is, this parable is truth and we have got to stop spending time sowing seed on bad soil; it is hurting the church more than helping. We have got to be willing to tell folks that they are bad soil and hope that by speaking truth they will truly repent and allow God’s grace to transform them into good soil. We have got to start spending our time with the ¼ that is good soil and that begins by focusing our time on the brokenness of the world around us and casting the seed of God’s transforming love there and wait for the hundred fold harvest to be reaped.
Oh God, how can I ever thank you for the blessing of this devotional today. I am changed because of this time with you this morning. I will not be the same after the study of this text. I thank you for your abundant grace that has opened my eyes to a truth that will effect my whole life. Thank you for helping me to see what it means to cast seed on good soil. Protect me Lord from wasting my time with the bad soil and give me the strength to call bad soil what it is when I see it in hopes that it will make room for your transforming grace to turn their lives into good soil ready to receive your word. Open my eyes to the brokenness of the world around me that I may know where good soil is; give me the grace to cast this seed in all directions and trust you to bring the harvest. God thank you for the harvest in my life; thank you for my brokenness; thank you most of all for your grace that turned my brokenness into good soil and an instrument for you to bring about your harvest in my life and the world around me.
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