Sometimes when Jesus taught, He used parables. One that I have held onto is one of choice, we can receive His word, and choose to follow or to go our own way. Although at the time of hearing, we are greatly influenced and believe whole heartedly, but as time passes, our passion ebbs a little. This is very much brought to light in Luke 8: 4 And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable:
5 "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.
6 Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.
7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.
8 But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold." When He had said these things He cried, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
9 Then His disciples asked Him, saying, "What does this parable mean?"
10 And He said, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that 'Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.'
11 "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.
14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
We can choose to be one of the three, hear the word and believe for a while, hear the word and believe until life gets difficult, or hear the word and live it in full belief.
The choice we make will affect our peace with God. We can surely rest in His peace if we believe His word. All people act in accordance to what they believe. For example, if we hear a weather report for the weekend, that it will be warm and sunny, we believe that and plan accordingly. So it is in the word of the Lord. If we believe, then we can live our lives knowing that the Lord will watch over us and provide for our needs. We can also have faith in His promises that are spread out in His Holy Book. The Lord God has always and will always honor His promises, unlike what we have grown accustomed to in our day to day world with others. It is also comforting to know that when we are forgiven, then we are free from our sin and guilt. The grace God has given will see us through anything, we just must choose to believe.
We can also have faith that His gospel is to be believed and lived by those who love Him. The Lord knows everything in a person’s heart. There is no deceiving the Lord. The Lord God is quick to forgive sin and save a person who comes to Him. He is faithful to keep His word to mankind. The Lord God has no desire to lose anyone. Each person is given the choice to accept or deny Christ.
To be the person who hears the word on good ground, we must continually read His word. Keep the word of the Lord in our minds and pray constantly about everything. Be thankful every day for the blessings of the Lord and His loving grace. Our God loves so deeply that humans cannot begin to understand the depth of His love.
Each of us can choose to let the love of God rule over our minds and souls. We can live our lives according to His commandments. It is good to read His word and know His law as well as all the commandments. But it is also good to know the word as Jesus taught.
Matthew 22: 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,
36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"
37 Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
The Lord God has made salvation easy to obtain, and as well, made obedience to Him just as easy. Do no harm to anyone, and wish no harm as well. Keep in mind that we are all sinners and have been forgiven, so those who have yet to accept Jesus as their savior, can be saved. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, one very large family, welcome those have repented and have been newly saved into the family with love and assurance.
Jesus taught the most important of all messages, salvation. He taught that God wants all people to come to Him and be redeemed. To be pardoned of all sin consequences. To be made pure in His sight and to receive eternal salvation. His parable of the prodigal son proves His love and forgiveness.
We can be the children of God instead of only His creation. The Lord God will hear the prayers and petitions of His children. He will listen and not turn away. The Lord will answer you when you call upon Him, just believe. The Old Testament is full of examples of those who believed and their answers, as well as those who did not.
It is always your choice to make.
Imagine. Being allowed into the throne room of the most powerful being in all creation and have Him listen to you.
Yes God is real, not believing does not erase that.
All any of us has to do is, receive Christ as our savior and obey His commandments. To accept the Lords invitation and be free of guilt, of sin and of fear.
We have the example of Christ for how to live, and of the disciples, apostles and many more of how to act after we are saved. Let the word of God steer your lives and show love to all. Let His word be our light so sin will have no dark place to live in us. AMEN