While waiting for the service to start today, I pulled out my pda bible and started reading today’s verses; Mark 4. Specifically, the parable of the sower gave me a nudge in the heart.
3“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.”
I’ve always wondered what kind of seed I was, from the first time I laied my eyes on those verses. That question always bothered me because obviously there is one type of seed you’d want to be, and deep down I didn’t want to think that I wasn’t.
Lately, I’ve been wrestling with “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and everything else will be added onto you”. I thought I had understood this and integrated that into my life by trusting and seeking His guidance on my career conducts and ambitious plans. These days this started to stir in me lots of questions. Questions like, am I just scratching the surface of that verse by trusting that He is the provider of my job and finance? What does his kingdom look like? Ultimately the question, what moves God’s heart and what is valuable in His kingdom that I am not seeking, but yet seeking the none important?
Today as I was reading the parable of the sower, I had this feeling that I wanted to fight it but decided to try it on – it was the feeling of, ‘gasp, I feel awefully like those seeds that grew among the thorns and didn’t bear fruits’; letting the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and desires for other things come in and choke the word.
I realized this may be a new phase that God has brought me into to teach me and mold me. Last year was about surrendering to Him and trusting Him for everything. It was tough but I saw the fruit and also deepened the trust. This year, I’ve been sensing that it’ll be on relationships – not just about surrounding yourself with people and always out socializing, but rather, bring the focus onto the people part in everything we do. In business dealings, coworkers, friends, people come to contact at stores etc. Seeing them not as means to an end.
After all, ‘Love God, and Love People. Love your neighbours as you love yourself”. Perhaps everything will be given and increased, if I just put my focus on what’s really important.
We all see the world with our own set of glasses/filters, and hardly able to see the world as how God would see it. People might say one thing, but we hear something totally different.
Wonder what it’ll look like one day when I could completely remove those filters and see the world as is. Hopefully soon.
What are you seeking? Is it: What will I eat? How will I pay the bills? How will I have a happy marriage? How will I have a successful career?
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