Today’s scripture: Matthew 13:18-23 (ESV-text and audio) (KJV) (The Message) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Brent Walsh):
The hospital waiting room was filled with a mix of people I knew and people I’d just met. Julie and I had driven through the night to make it to the bedside of our dear friend Denise as she bargained with her feeble lungs for every breath. As much as we wanted to camp out by her side, we spent most of our time in the waiting room visiting with the other friends and family members who were gathered to pray and to wait for her condition to improve.
When there was a pause in the conversation around the room, I turned to someone sitting next to me. “Tell me one of your memories of Denise,” I said. Her smile turned introspective as she said, “Denise has been my AA sponsor for fifteen years. She is the reason I’m sober today.” What followed was a story of struggle, temptation, and courage to overcome alcoholism. Denise had been there and had learned those lessons well, so she took what she knew and passed it along to others. She spent twenty years helping people and teaching people how to live sober, and some of those people have in turn helped others to find health and healing through sobriety.
In the passage of scripture before this one, Jesus tells a parable about a farmer who sows his seed on four kinds of ground: the hard pathway, shallow soil, weedy soil, and rich, fertile soil. Our passage picks up when Jesus is explaining to the disciples what the parable means, and when I read his words, I can’t help but relate the meaning to people who take steps to change something in their life for the better.
If you were to put a group of people into a room for a twelve-week course or a twelve step program, you would most likely have four different results among your class members:
- Some would probably sit through the entire class playing solitaire or texting her friends. Like a seed that falls on the pathway, she absorbs nothing and learns nothing.
- Some would pay attention and even contribute to the discussion, but when he would leave the room after each lesson, the information offered would stay behind. Like a seed that falls on shallow ground, this person doesn’t take the time to apply any of the principles and his life doesn’t change.
- The third kind of class member does all his homework and is determined to make all the necessary changes in his life, but then times get tough and hardship chokes out all the resolve he had. He becomes like a seed that falls among the thorns. He is discouraged and might even quit coming to class because he’s so disappointed in himself.
- The fourth kind of class member absorbs all the material, makes changes in her life, and can barely contain her excitement! This person is like a seed that falls on fertile soil. She isn’t satisfied with simply reaping the benefits of the class herself, but rather helps others to get involved and find help and healing the way she did.
When was the last time you enrolled in a program that promised to change your life? Was it a weight-loss clinic? A drug rehabilitation program? A financial skills course? A codependency group? A dating/marriage class? An Alcoholics Anonymous group? A career skills class? A Bible study or discipleship class?
Whether it does any good is completely up to you. If you provide fertile soil for the seeds of the program, they will take root and grow tall and strong. They will change your life. And when they do, you can turn around and help others who are just starting out on the journey you’ve already taken.
Thought for the day: What kind of soil do I want to be today?
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.