Genesis 13:1-18
Notes
Transcript
Genesis 13:1-18
Genesis 13:1-18
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Last week, we started following a man who would be the father of the God’s chosen people. Abram was given a command to leave his father’s house. Who did Abram take with him on his “Quest?” His father, nephew, and his brother Nahor. Nahor isn’t mentioned in the party at the end of Genesis 11, but we do know that Isaac’s wife Rebekah was the granddaughter of Nahor, and he lived in Haran. If you’re looking for that, it’s in Genesis 27.
Where was Abram being led? He didn’t know, he stopped half way, not in the middle, but to the north from Syria. After several years there, his father dies and Abram, Sarai, and Lot and their stuff head south into the Promised Land where the Canaanites dwell.
He gets to Schechem and the Lord meets with him, and promises his descendants the land that he is viewing.
Abram never owned any land in the promised land, he dwelt in tents there. This area called Schechem, was called Sychar in the Greek in John 4. This is where the promise began with God’s people. John 4 is where we hear the story of the woman at the well, where Jesus first announces that He is the Messiah.
God made a promise with Abram, a promise to make him a blessing, and his name great. Abram moved and pitched a tent between Bethel and Ai.
So, how did this journey start off? Well? No, with disobedience, and a lie.
Did Abram stay there and get his life started with the Lord? No, there was a famine in the land and Abram got afraid that the Lord wouldn’t provide for them, so he headed south from the Promised Land and ended up in Egypt, where Pharaoh’s men found the couple. Abram told Sarai to tell a half-truth to save Abram’s life, and it did. It gave Abram riches, livestock, and male and female servants.
Why did Abram think Pharaoh would want Sarai? Because she was very beautiful. AT 65! The Lord plagued Pharaoh’s house though and thru it all at some point, Pharoah would find out that Sarai and Abram were married and would cast out Abram, with all that he was given and they returned to the Promised Land.
So, Abram got away with his sin, with riches, livestock, and servants, and the Lord blessed him anyway, right? That’s what we would think if the story stopped here, but it doesn’t. Let’s pray and break down Chapter 13.
PRAY
1 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
So, Now Abram is back where he belongs, right? Back home, where he built his altar to worship the Lord. He started a pyramid scheme in Egypt and came back with a lot of money, livestock, and servants, didn’t he?
Abram LIED to save his own hide. And he got away with it. He got his beautiful wife back, and all of that stuff, gold, silver…What happens when good people get enriched with lots of money and lots of stuff? They change, don’t they?
Fear is destructive. My wife tells people in counseling that people have a reaction to fear in 3 ways: Fight, Flight, or Freeze. Scaring someone can be dangerous, because you might get a knuckle sandwich. I’ve dodged punches scaring someone. Some freeze and don’t know what to do, it’s a catatonic state that, even if they know what to do they can’t do it.
And some run. Abram is a runner. He relies on his cunning at that time. What does cunning mean? It means having or showing skill in achieving one’s ends by deceit or evasion. Crafty. Slick. Slimy. It can also be BOLD, clever, mind bending, challenging.
My wife will tell you, when things start getting hard and seem impossible, the Lord gives me a song in my heart and I start dancing. Everything becomes a rhythm to me. I can plan, I can organize, I can divide and concur. I don’t fight, fly, or freeze. Law enforcement reacts the same way. When things start getting “strange” they focus, analyze, and then react.
I get where Abram was coming from in Egypt…he relied on his cunning to hold onto his life. It doesn’t say he was holding fast to the Promise if God while he was there…he gained financially, but he broke up his family. I can’t imagine losing my wife, let alone handing her off to a bunch of men to go live in a harem. Not being able to speak daily to my best friend would be devastating to me.
Husbands…you know what happens when we do something that upsets our wives. What happens? Usually the silent treatment, right? That silent treatment is like being married to an icicle, or an open flame. A stick of dynamite. In my case, I’ve got a hulk.
My wife, when she’s mad…it’s like a porcupine dipped in lava, wrapped by a tornado. It is painful when you’re on her bad side. Everything hurts, everything is on fire…AND I CAN’T FIND ANYTHING. I’m sure Sarai was as gracious as she was beautiful, but you don’t cross a woman, you just don’t.
So, Abram is headed back to Canaan with all of this stuff, all of these animals, and a whole bunch of people, but the Lord’s chastening is an irritating thing. Now, I don’t say that as in it’s not right…but it has a way of changing us in very good ways, usually against ways we want to change. I think of it like this. A pearl is made because a grain of sand gets inside the shell of a muscle. That grain of sand irritates the muscle and it starts to attack that irritation. When that grain is extracted, however, it’s beautiful to us. Not all irritations are bad.
Breaking a habit is a hard thing to do. Sometimes, it takes a real trial, then a rebuilding of trust. Paul says:
5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”
Abram is returning to center. A work has begun in him. A greater sense of responsibility. This has been a maturing process for him. The term in verse 1 “to the South” means he traveled thru the Negev, which was a vast desert in the south of the promised land as he was traveling out of the Sinai peninsula from Egypt.
Where does he go? Back to square 1. Back to the tent, back to the altar. Back to where he worshipped the Lord and he does what? He calls on the name of the Lord again. He cries out, knowing he’s let the Lord down. It’s time that Abram sets his sights again on the Lord and starts being the leader the Lord needs Abram to be.
What does it take to bring you to the altar of your life? What MORE WILL it take? Our choices have consequences. Let’s look at what these “Gifts” he brought back with him bring.
5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. 6 Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. 7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.
This is the first time in the Bible we hear about financial riches. Thruout the Bible, money is not good, nor is it bad. It’s a tool to be used by people. That person with, or without money needs to decide how to use that money, or how to pursue it.
It’s like a brick. You can use a brick for building something up. You can also use that brick for tearing something down. How you decide to use it is up to you.
Here, we have 2 people who have financially benefitted by Abram’s disobedience and his lie. Abram, and Lot. They had so much stuff, and so many people working for them now, that there was a feud between the workers. That stemmed from the maturity differences between Abram and Lot.
They both had very different ambitions. Abram was much older than Lot, and that makes a big difference, doesn’t it? Those life experiences are so meaningful. They both came from Ur of the Chaldeans, and that was a pagan city, with all of the things that most big cities these days have too. Lots of things to spend your money and time on that will suck you dry and leave you wanting.
Abram came back from Egypt changed. He returned to the altar and cried out to the Lord. Lot, on the other hand, had lots of stuff and was not content with what he had. He wanted more, he had ambition. What does the word Ambition mean? It means you have an ardent desire for rank, fame, or power.
Some people can handle power. They rule gently, wisely, they have compassion. Some people can’t. It’s an insatiable desire. Look at the book of Ecclesiastes. King Solomon was at his wits end. He decided to try to fill his life with everything but God and what did he find?
1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, this also was vanity. 2 I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?” 3 I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives. 4 I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards. 5 I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
6 I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove. 7 I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds. 9 So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. 10 Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, For my heart rejoiced in all my labor; And this was my reward from all my labor. 11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.
What was his conclusion?
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. 14 For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.
Money and power don’t lead to anything special. Some people are so driven, once they have a bit of money, to crave it more. Lot was one of those men, and that will get him in trouble.
A little bit of power quickly goes to one’s head too. That’s why it’s important to surround yourself with people who will challenge you when you’re acting a fool. You all know me, some better than I wish you did! I’m thinking of my kids. BUT, even you guys. I’m a work in progress too. Help me learn how to navigate. I hurt too.
That is why I have men AND WOMEN around me who will not hesitate to confront me if I’m out of line. I take comfort in that. My head can easily get caught up the power that a pastor can wield on people. A pastor should be gentle, compassionate, and understand the needs of the flock. A good shepherd binds their wounds, comforts them when they are anxious, and they trust their lives to him, even when the way us unknown and treacherous.
I don’t know where we’re headed, we’re in the unknown. We’re like Abram, following where the Lord is leading us. I don’t wan to stop at the border, but we’ll be allowed to wander until we’re ready. I also don’t want to move past where He wants us to be either. I understand, though, you are the flock the Lord has given me to shepherd, and I’m going to shepherd the best way I can. You are not my flock. You are His flock. A shepherd doesn’t command a flock, he tends to them and guides them.
A little bit of the limelight can change people. Ultimately, where your heart is, is what is laid bare to see by those who are watching. We can read ahead and find out what happens to Lot, but we don’t get that chance in our day-to-day lives. We need to be grounded.
What was the difference that was made in these men? Well, the conversation here lays it out:
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”
Who’s land does this all belong to? Abram’s descendants, right? According to whom? (I think that’s the appropriate use of the word whom?) According to God, not Abram.
This is the heart of a peacemaker. This is the heart of a GREAT MAN. Abram didn’t desire the choice land, he didn’t make a preference. He cared more about the relationship between his people, and Lot’s people. Doesn’t that sound like the heart of a great man? To even give up the best to his nephew for the sake of peace between them…A good lesson to learn for some little ears in this room, eh?
Kids, give more than you get. Always be giving to others. You’ll have more joy, you’ll get into less trouble, AND it honor’s God. When it comes time to give Him your best, you’ll know how to do it if you practice now.
Giving up what we want to someone who we know doesn’t deserve it is a hard thing to do. But it’s what the Lord does for us, isn’t it? He knows we don’t deserve what He has in store for us…but he lets us have it. He hopes we learn the lessons when we fail and return to the altar and call upon His name. Humble is what we call a person like that.
Lot had the choice, what did he choose?
10 And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. 12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. 13 But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.
Abram looked at Lot with love in his heart. Lot, instead of looking at Abram, showing honor to the man who took him under his wing, lead him to great riches, looked out EAST at the land and salivated. Remember the direction, EAST.
He could see the building of his riches, of his livestock. Ultimately, this choice would start him down a path that would lead him toward enlarging that organ that each of us have that gets out of control very quickly…our pride organ. OK, so it’s not an organ, but it acts like one. It’s not important to anyone but us and it so often does what it wants. Usually at the expense of other people.
Lot saw the land, and knew of a city called Sodom that had everything he wanted. Let me rephrase…everything he craved. He wasn’t thinking with his heart, he was thinking with his pride.
What a reflection of the Lord, and us, isn’t it? The Lord wants what’s best for us, but wants US to sacrifice our pride and let Him have the best. Why? BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHAT TO DO WITH IT and He knows, also, the path our pride will lead us down.
HE GIVES US THE CHOICE. But our choices have consequences. He knows our eyes are drawn to the fame, to the power, to the money, to the stuff…
Proverbs 1:17–19 (NLT)
17 If a bird sees a trap being set, it knows to stay away. 18 But these people set an ambush for themselves; they are trying to get themselves killed. 19 Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money; it robs them of life.
Lot didn’t have Proverbs then…but I don’t think it would have done him any good. We so easily get blinded by our sin. That’s the devil’s trick, he gets us fixated on it. One more hit, one more high, one more relaxing moment…and before we know it, we’re caught. Again. The devil is a fisher of men as well.
Lot saw the land and wanted it, and he knew it would take him to Sodom on the other side of the Dead Sea. He knew that’s where his fortune would take him. Anyone who has walked that road, though, can tell you…greed and pride exact a toll that is uncontrollable.
Now that Lot had gone, someone was where he was supposed to be, finally. God had Abram where He wanted him.
14 And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. 16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. 17 Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.” 18 Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord.
Finally, Abram was right where God wanted him to be. So, the Lord appeared to him again, between Bethel and Ai.
What does the word Bethel mean? House of The Lord. What does Ai mean? Heap of ruins. It’s also slang for a dump.
So, Abram was at his altar, and his tent, with a choice between the House of The Lord, and the dump. Which was on which side? Lot went EAST, Abram went west.
Genesis 12:8 (NKJV)
8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the WEST and Ai on the EAST; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
Lot chose the heap. Isn’t this where we find ourselves with almost all of our decisions? God’s way, or the dump. I can build on the Solid Foundation of the Rock. OR, I can build on the dump, on shifty soil.
Abram was called out, Lot followed, but that’s because Abram brought him. I’ve been like Lot. When I left my home in Southern California to move to Ohio, I left a place where I could do anything, at any time of day. I always had people around, and was easily lost in a crowd. I couldn’t stand being by myself. I hated drugs and alcohol, but I loved people. They were my high.
I moved to Ohio because I had a scholarship opportunity at the Air Force Academy fall thru. I took a year off and lived with my grandparents while my grandfather was dying of cancer. I got a taste of small-town life and it scared me. I didn’t want this. This was slow life. To me, this was NO life. This was sitting at the local cafe for breakfast, listening to, what I deemed at the time “Gossip” of the town. I didn’t understand what fellowship was at that time.
I got into college and my roommate moved out because I told him if he invited his girlfriend from home to campus I’d tell her what he’s been doing with other girls behind her back. The Lord had me isolated there…and I filled that time quickly with friends, who introduced me to Rugby and then alcohol.
I moved back to the left coast after dropping out of college and partied it up. I had a wife, a great job, good pay for a young kid…but the call came in to go back to Ohio and there I learned how to shear sheep. I went from a city of 1,000,000+ to a town of 14,000 in Ohio, to a smaller town of 6,000, then to a cabin on the side of a long windy road outside of Palmerston North, New Zealand with 8 people living in it. AND I FREAKED OUT. Hard, long days shearing sheep. Strange, beautiful land that I just couldn’t enjoy because I was so caught up in myself.
I wanted SO BAD that old life back. The whole time, I made horrible choices. Chasing after sin, involving others in my sin cocktails, destroying my integrity…My normal, my full-tank was that life I had in California. I wanted the money, I wanted the status…over the life I was living. I was far from the Lord at that time. Sure, I called on Him when I was desperate or needed a break. And my prayers reflected my feelings…Lord, what in the WORLD are you doing? This was a REALLY DUMB IDEA allowing me to make this choice. I spoke to God like a buddy of mine I could rebuke.
I had a dream of working for NASA coming out of high school. I love physics. I dropped out of college because I found out I’m terrible at math. No matter how much I understand mechanics, the numbers never add up. I get the concepts, but the most important part of the equations…the numbers, I fail at. My dream was to take apart spacecraft and fix them, and put them back into space.
The Lord said NO. Your ways are not my ways, and your thoughts are not my thoughts. As I was kicking and screaming, crying, destroying my relationships with people…the Lord was shaking me…change your heart and listen to me, or I’ll break you. And I reminded the Lord of what I WANTED. And He took everything from me.
He took my main job too. I was working a good job as a temp trying to get hired on with a big company and that job ended abruptly. Leaving me with nothing but one option. Shearing sheep. He took my first wife from me, better description of that is I drove her away from me because I wasn’t the man the Lord wanted me to be. I will not blame God for that. I didn’t have any idea what being married really meant then. I am ashamed of who I was. He stripped me of everything I thought I wanted so painfully.
Life isn’t about the road ahead. That’s what this world wants us to look to…see what’s coming from the horizon. Life is about the journey you’ve been on your whole life and realizing that every step, every stumble, every failure, every broken relationship, every zigzag, every backtrack…was to bring you to where you are right now, to the saving of many lives.
Lot looked out to the east and said I WANT THAT. And he chased the horizon. It couldn’t come fast enough. What did Abram do? He looked up. Did Lot build an altar? No. Did he call on the name of the Lord? No. He was singularly focused. Abram, on the other hand, wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. No fear, no anguish, just “Lord, lead me.” What did God tell Abram to do? Let’s read it again:
17 Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.” 18 Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord.
He told Abram, get to know this land. All of it. Go and set your foot on the land that is yours. We talked last week, Abram never purchased land in the promised land. He always pitched his tent. Here’s why! He was told by God to move about the land and get familiar with it.
When the Lord gives you a gift, explore that gift. Get to know that gift and use it to it’s fullest. God could now get to know Abram while Abram was getting to know this land.
Bad company can corrupt us, but once we’re separated from them, they can open our eyes too. Usually it’s to what we’ve been saved from! I look back at the dumb decisions young Aaron made and I’m like why Aaron? Why?
Again, it goes back to the journey. My dream was to work on spacecraft. Fix them and put them back into space. It took 20 years of really bad decisions and an old-fashioned mafia style kneecapping - figuratively, but that’s what it was like to me, to get me to hear Him.
I look back at that broken road, and see the rod, and the staff that comfort me. The rod is for correction, and the staff is for direction. He will always use the staff first. Look over here, that way…go that way. HEY! That’s when the rod comes out. That’s when I go “Oh yeah, sorry, I’ll get right over there.”
My journey was worth it. Warts and all, it was worth it. Yours is too. Your journey is meaningful to the people you fellowship with. Your story will change lives. Don’t be proud of it, it’s a cautionary tale of “Do as I say, not as I did.” Your successes and your failures will mold the next generation and the enemy is coming after them. You are the difference, but only if you’ve surrendered that path.
7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
Love, Joy, Peace, Patience…those are the 4 fruits of the spirit that are for us to grow in. The Lord tested Abram’s faith, and he will continue to. Abram failed his first tests…just like I did. Doesn’t that give you hope?
Can you have joy if you don’t have love? Joy is gladness, if there’s no love, you can’t be glad about anything. When you’re glad, it allows you to have peace, and to seek peace. Abram loved Lot so much, he sought peace. He knew the trial he went thru taught him AND HIS WIFE patience, and what does this verse say? Let PATIENCE DO IT’S PERFECT WORK IN YOU.
This passage is a tale of 2 men, lead by 2 different masters. One by God. The other by his ambition. One righteous, one selfish. This is what I love about the Bible. It doesn’t just give us one side of the story. It’s a cautionary tale.
We’re to guard our hearts, but our eyes, well, what does the Bible say about our eyes?
22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
20 Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied.
16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
Where we set that longing gaze owns us. I’ve heard it said by people, it’s not the first glance that is sin, it’s the second one. Men, guard your eyes. Honor your wives and families with where you affix your gaze.
Will it be toward the lights? The fame? The power? The relationships? The name that will be left behind? Or will it be to the One who gave up the lights, the fame, and the power? Like I mentioned last week in Joshua 24:15 “15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.””
Are you familiar with the Parable of the Seed and the Sower? Turn with me to Mark 4, it’s in the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke…if you get to Luke you’ve gone too far. Jesus teaching in Galilee and people are crowding around him, so he sets out by boat a little off shore so people can see and hear him better. Here are His words:
3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. 5 Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. 7 And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” 9 And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
After Jesus taught the people, the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him about this parable because they didn’t understand. Let’s continue on as Jesus explains a few verses down in Mark 4:13:
Mark 4:13–20 (NKJV)
13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. 18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
As Jesus explains this parable, the word “parable” means metaphor or example. As Jesus explains this, he talks about 3 things. What are they? The Sower, which is someone teaching or giving the Word of God. In this case, Jesus, today it would be the evangelist, in other words; YOU. The Seed, which is the Word of God. What is the 3rd thing Jesus is talking about?
It’s the soil. The sower, and the Word don’t change. They do their jobs. They are constant. What changes though? The soil. Jesus talks about the wayside, nothing grows there. Then you have the stony ground that doesn’t give the seed what it needs to grow. Then you have the thorny, weedy ground, and what does verse 19 say? Mark 4:19 “19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” Then there is the seed that falls on the good soil.
The soil is us. Someone, or many someone’s sowed the Word of God to us. Either in word, or in deed. We went from barren, hardened soil where we were oblivious to the Word, and then, the Word does something to the ground, and a rake hits the topsoil and turns it to clumps of dirt and with rocks in it. Still mostly hard ground. Little can grow there until you remove those rocks.
Then, with some cultivating we get to some better soil, but there are weeds and thorns that sprout up and they choke out the Word and drown us in a hopeless sea of doubt. Always snagging your clothes, getting stuck in your socks, rubbing your skin raw…making you just irritated enough to do what? What do we do? We give in to that thorn or we get it out. Those weeds are distracting, but most often we give into those weeds, don’t we?
The devil’s job is easy when we’re hardened, even when we’re rocky and raw. There’s enough growth for people to notice, but we fall back so easy. The rocks were there under the surface, aren’t they? Always there, but once they’re out things can grow properly…
The thorns and weeds though, were they there before? In the hard or rocky ground? Where did they come from? They were planted there. Not by the hand of someone…but by the wind. They didn’t just come to be…they were sown by the devil to stumble and distract us. They just seem to keep coming, and coming, and coming…it never stops, does it? You never get them all. UNLESS you’re constantly working the ground. You find them, and you get them out.
WORSHIP TEAM - KIDS
Recently, I’ve taken it upon myself, and my wife too, to put on our gardening gloves and start checking some of your soil. Going over it, not as a grade, but to help you see the things you can’t see. In turn, many of you have helped us see things we couldn’t see either and it’s been good to just have some time to talk and get to know the flock.
But, how is your soil? Does it need working? We always think we’re hunky dory. Is there fruit wanting to come up? Or are you still choked out by anger, distrust, malice, REVENGE? Have your roots started to intertwine with your weeds? So that when you start pulling them up, you’re damaging yourself too? What do you do?
I know what the easy thing to do is…leave the weed. Right? We know that’s hard work. Sometimes you have to treat and kill the weed before you can uproot it, don’t you? When you uproot a good plant, you get a ball of dirt with that root all thruout. What do you get when you uproot a weed? A long stem, that goes straight down with little fingers around it randomly. If you pull a big straw out of the ground that’s been there for a long time, what would you expect? Most of that straw will be clean and dirty…maybe a few roots with it. You need to pull that weed out of there.
This parable changed my life. I had an argument with God OUT LOUD after I was confronted with these words of Jesus. The question I asked, quietly in my head, was “what must I do to get in good soil?” I answered myself, and the answer was no. Not I can’t, not I don’t know. It was one word, out loud. I remember where I was, what I was doing. I said NO.
Then I reasoned. “The laws of this land allow me to do this legally. It won’t keep me from heaven if you’re in my heart Lord.” And the Lord reminded me, “what were my first words after the Holy Spirit descended upon me?” The first words of His ministry were REPENT, for the Kingdom of the Lord is at hand! In the Amplified Bible, Matthew 3:2
Matthew 3:2 (AMP)
“Repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins, live your life in a way that proves repentance; seek God's purpose for your life], for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
I said “NO! I don’t want to. There’s no law stopping me!” He reminded me, there is. One of His 10. These laws stand supreme. Choose for yourself THIS DAY whom you will serve Aaron. The gods of this land? or Me.
I prayed Lord, take it from me. I can’t handle this, I can’t fight it. He told me “No.” I cried and struggled for a long time. Years. Each time I prayed and cried out for him to take it from me, because I was so tired of fighting and failing. He said “No.” He knew what those words meant to me. They meant FIGHT.
Sometimes, you have to fight that weed that you’ve become so comfortable with. That the laws of this land say “This is OK behavior, accept it.” God’s Word is clear on our sin. The Amplified Bible hits the nail right where we should hit it and drives it into the Cross. CHANGE YOUR INNER SELF. REGRET YOUR PAST SINS AND LIVE AS PROOF YOU ARE CHANGED.
There is no redemption without atonement IN BLOOD and repentance. Like Abram with Lot. Jesus says “Do what you like. You’ll know where to find me.” He’ll let you go, you have free will! If we keep Him at a distance, when we see Him face to face, he may respond to you “I never knew you.” Jesus went to the Cross for that Sinstagram feed the devil holds onto. He shows it to you every time you give in. He says “Look what YOU have done!
That old man, that old woman can’t be you anymore. Not if Jesus buried them in the grave. When He arose and conquered death, He wasn’t different. We were. He poured out His blood for us. In return, we need to be changed.
There are kids in our midst today. Those kids need you to teach them. To push them. To cry with them. To see you struggle thru your sin. Teach them to pray. Teach them to pray FOR YOU when you’re struggling. If they’re young, they don’t need the details. Just ask them to pray for you and listen to them. That’s powerful. The prayers of a child ARE POWERFUL MOTIVATORS. These kids need to see what my generation didn’t. They don’t need friends. They need leaders, and leaders bleed, leaders cry, sacrificially.
Live your life in a way that proves you’re changed, and open your mouth and tell people why. You are the church. Not this organization. 99% of your week is outside of the walls where we meet. You are the only church most people will see. Take our messages, and preach them to your congregation at work, at the ball field, at the gym, with no fear. Let’s be the church.
PRAY