Wednesday 21 Nov 2012

Wednesday Reading: Matthew 13:1-23

Key Verse: Matthew 13:19
19  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

Devotion:
One of the biggest stumbling blocks I had as a young person seeking God’s Word was that I had difficulty understanding it. There were very few people who seemed to want to spend time with me to explain God’s Word in ways that I could understand; but when someone did explain it in simple terms I understood and trusted in Christ. From that day on it has been a struggle to understand more of this Word until I began to study it. Now whilst that may sound strange to some it will sound like common sense to others because we all approach God’s Word in different ways.

As Christians we not only have a duty to spread God’s Word but we also have a duty to understand it; how are we going to teach others unless we do understand what we are about to teach. We don’t need all the understanding of a great preacher in order to tell someone about Christ because they may be seeking a simple explanation like I was in the beginning. Someone at school took time to explain what Christ has done for me and why He had done it for me – a nice simple explanation that I could take and grow with. It may have taken a few preachers to explain the finer points of God’s Word, and I still marvel at how much I do learn from others, but it was those seeds in the beginning that made it possible.

When we try to tell others about God we are going to come up against all sorts of people just like this parable explains. We will come up against those that just don’t get it and reject it before we can get that seed into the soil; but we will also plant a seed in soil that is just waiting to receive that single seed. We may well not know what the soil is going to be like until after we have cast that seed out because we cannot tell what is under that initial layer of dirt. God is the one who does know what is deep inside each person’s heart and our job is just to cast that seed forward, water it and see what happens.

We could just cast it out and see what happens. God will take care of the seed that is cast to the people He knows will receive it. But if we are able to water that ground and care for that ground then that is what we should be doing as well. The more we can care for it in the beginning, the better chance it has of taking root earlier on.

Points to Ponder:
Do you mention God to others?

How often do you continue to talk about God?