Living the Christ-Life

 

May 9, 2020

 

Mark 4: 1 – 9

 

The Parable of the Sower

“Again, he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.   And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching, he said to them:   “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.   Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up since it had no depth of soil.   And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.   Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.   And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”   And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

One might read this and not have the Spirit of God living in them, they would wonder if Jesus is giving a talk about farming.   Jesus is the sower, and the seeds are the faith that God willingly gives to all who seek for it.  Often one's faith does not have time to germinate before Satan comes, that is what the birds coming to eat the grain or seed represent.  I recall some of his tricks, as he talked with me as a young boy.  Bobby, it sounded just like my voice, and yet the thoughts were not mine.  You have time, and that is something you will do after you have had fun, if you follow Jesus at this age you will miss some good times.  I was not aware at that age that it was a lie from hell.  How I wish I had not listened, for the older I got the prouder I became and the more sinful.

At the age of 12 or 13 when I was embarrassed into walking down and becoming a Baptist, the ground was very rocky and there was not any change in my spirit, I had become another lost Baptist.  I found it was not easy to pray with faith, for I had no source to do so with.  By the age of 27, my life looked good, I  had a wife that loved me and a job that I was learning to do, and yet I was a total mess.  My barber (Bob) invited me to a Bible Study, I went because he invited me, and I wanted to see why he would want to attend.

That began preparing my soul to receive the faith God the father was giving me to see Him.  It took six months and four men loving me to prepare the soil for the seed of faith to be planted in my life, and it happened one night in Victoria, Texas, in a hotel room after opening the Bible to Romans 10:9 & 10, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”  That night God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit entered into my earth suit and I became a new creation in Christ.  It has not been easy living the Christ-life, for often I’ve tried to do it in my own strength, and it is impossible to even try.  Jesus Christ is the only one who has ever lived the Christian life, and He wants you to follow Him.

 

From the Back Porch, 

 

Bob Rice