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Chris (email link at the bottom of each page)

The Sower

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Image from http://www.luciasblog.com/2017/10/the-implanted-word-of-god.html
Man sowing seed by hand
 
Luke 8:4–15
 
The Parable of the Sower is the “parable of parables”.  Jesus taught that understanding this parable is the key, or gateway, to all the others (Mark 4:13).
 
One way of looking at the Parable of the Sower is to understand the soil as our mind.  As the word of God engages with our mind a number of things can happen.  The devil (like a bird picking up seed) may steal away the seed that was sown; or as soon as we hear the Word of God the distractions of the day overwhelm us and it is gone.
 
Or we receive it at first with great joy and happiness but the busyness of the day and the testing of life dissipate it and we do not hold on to it.  The problem is that if we don’t hold on to the Scripture that we have read we fail to mature as Christians and to fulfil our vocation.
 
When the soil of our mind is good, though, receiving and valuing the Word of God, we are able to persevere, riding out the ups and downs of the day and meeting each circumstance with a bold proclamation of God’s truth.
 
Father, by the grace of your Holy Spirit, teach me to be good soil and so to bear fruit for your kingdom.
 
Chris
 
 
1 Timothy 6:13–16 • Psalm 99(100) • Luke 8:4–15
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Parable of the Workers – The Unmerited Grace of God

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Ezekiel 34:1–11 • Psalm 22(23) • Matthew 20:1–16

We do not earn salvation by our good deeds; rather we are saved by reliance on God’s grace.

In the Old Testament the Hebrew words hen and hesed are used to describe this generosity of God. Hen is the quality of benevolence of one who is highly placed turning to help one in need; hesed is steadfast love and spontaneous, faithful goodness in a relationship.  These words were later translated as ‘grace’.

God revealed himself to Moses as ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love...’ (Exod. 34:6).  The Jews gradually came to understand and rely on this gracious love of God: his goodness in choosing them from all other people to be his own, his gift of the land of Canaan – their whole history was proof to them. The prophets came to realise that the deepest demonstration of God’s grace was his promise of interior renewal, the gift of a new heart and the forgiveness of sins that he would accomplish by the Messiah.

Paul constantly preached the truth that we are saved not by our own righteousness but through faith in Jesus. ‘But God, who is rich in mercy, . . . even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ . . . For by grace you have been saved through faith . . . not because of works, lest any man should boast’ (Eph. 2:4–5, 8–9).

This attitude of rejoicing in the unmerited grace of God is in contrast with the jealousy and resentment of the workers in Jesus’s parable who have laboured throughout the day: though they have earned a just wage, they demand a share in the generosity of their employer (God) as a right. They forget the initial gratitude they had in finding employment.

Jesus is warning us not to fall into this self—righteous trap, thinking our own moral efforts are more important than God’s grace. As we remind ourselves of how much God has done for us, our hearts will begin to fill with gratitude. Then we shall not care so much who is last or first, or how long we have been working, because we shall know the Father’s faithful love for us.

‘Every day I will bless thee, and praise thy name for ever.’  (P5. 145:2)

Chris
 
 
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God's Word

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Mark 4:1-20
A sower in a field with birds above.


The Parable of the Sower is really a parable about the battle for the mind.  It is about spiritual conflict: the interior battle which occurs every day in our hearts to hold on to the word of God, to enable it to take root in us and bear fruit.

It is also profoundly related to Paul’s exhortation regarding the renewal of our minds: we are transformed by changing the way that we think (see Rom 12:2).  

The problem is that this is more easily said than done.

The key is nurturing the seed of God’s word which is planted in us each each — this is the seed of God’s grace — despite all obstacles and dangers, represented by the thorns, poor soil, weeds etc . . .

Our goal is to master living life in the Spirit, and today is a wonderful, God-given opportunity to put the Parable of the Sower into practice; read the parable, study and ponder it and ask the Holy Spirit to help you hear the word, accept the word and so produce abundant fruit (see Gal 5:22-23).

Let us resolve to listen to the word of God in the Scriptures, and to pay heed to the writings of the saints and the documents of the Church.  In this way can God’s truth enrich our minds and take root in our hearts, enabling us to bear good fruit as we strive to build God’s kingdom here on earth.

Lord, help me to take your word and make it real in my life.  Let it take root and not fall on deaf ears.
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God's ways, not ours. His will, not mine

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Matthew 20:1-16
 
The point of today’s parable is that in the kingdom the blessings and rewards of God are received out of God’s goodness and love, not on the basis of our merit or the length of our service.  Many years ago St Teresa of Avila wisely commented: :We should forget the number of years we have served him.  The  more we serve him, the more deeply we fall in his debt."
 
God’s ways – the way he thinks, the way he acts, the way he moves – are so different from our ways.  God allows his sun to shine on both the righteous and the unrighteous, and we impose our own thinking on God’s kingdom at our peril.  
 
Remember that the poor thief crucified alongside Jesus, who, it is fair to assume, had not lived a very good life, was promised paradise on that very day.  We must resist limiting God’s work or actions and insisting on our view of the world, of people or of situations.
 
God sees what we do not see and his goodness and mercy have no bounds.
 
Lord please help us not to be conformed to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind so that we will be able to discover your good, pleasing and perfect will.
 
Chris

 
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