12/03/2020
Where do we place our trust, what is the sure and stable foundation on which we confidently build our life, and to who do we turn in times of trouble? In other words... where are our roots established? The Bible is filled with references regarding roots, and specifically, where we put ours down, how deep they grow, and how well they support our spiritual foliage. In evaluating our faith we need to ask ourselves about the health of our root systems because without them there is no lasting spiritual vitality, and no fullness in the fruit that grows from our faith.
“No one is established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will never be moved.”
Proverbs 12:3 ESV
One of my favorite parables that Jesus taught was the parable of the sower, in which we are tells us about a farmer who sows his seeds, and about how each planting fared as he sowed them on various types of ground. This contains such a powerful truth, and image, that it was later borrowed by the secular world and rewritten into a children’s story that every child has come to know by heart... of course I am referring to “The Three Little Pigs.” But that is a lesson to consider another day...
So back to our parable. It is no accident that the parables of Jesus always take events from the physical world, and use them to teach us spiritual lessons. He shows us the mysteries of faith in things we experience in our everyday lives... in this way they come alive to us in the tangible events and images we are familiar with, and we are reminded of them again, and again, as we live out our lives. So today we are talking about seeds and roots of faith, not straw, sticks, bricks, and wolves. But in the coming days, as you mull over the work ethic of those three little pigs, think about your roots, and the attention you have given to the seeds they sprang from.
“Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.”
1 Corinthians 11:2 ESV
Let’s begin our study today by looking at the first planting of seeds mentioned in the parable in which some of the seeds fell on a path where they were easily seen and quickly devoured by the birds. In this planting the farmer had a prepared field, but as he approached its boundaries his seeds carelessly fell on the hard barren ground of a path where the birds found them an easy meal.
“And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.”
Matthew 13:4 ESV
We are not all farmers, but many of us are homeowners, and have sown grass seed in our yards. We know how difficult it is to keep the seeds in the yard as we sow along the edges of our sidewalks; many seeds blow onto the walkway, and we later watch through the window as the birds make a fine meal of them. Jesus uses this imagery to show us a couple of things, first is that Satan thrives on the edges of our faith where he makes an easy meal of our carelessness, and how we need to take special care to insure that our faith remains in the prepared field. The second is the truth he shows us through the image of the path... we have spent so much time walking just along the edges of our field of faith that we trample the ground hard, and eventually wear away the vegetation... turning it into a path, or barrier. In this way we are also tempted to walk a certain comfortable way around our faith today, until we have destroyed the wonder of what once grew there. Let’s think about how we walk with Jesus as go about our everyday routine today; do we know His fullness, or do we walk the same thin line through our faith in him?
“How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?”
Hebrews 10:29 ESV
The second planting was on rocky ground, and although the seeds germinated, and started to grow, they quickly withered and died when the sun came up. When I first built my house the yard was bare ground so I bought grass seed and sowed it over my yard. The seeds came up quickly and soon the yard was a lush carpet of green, but as summer advanced, and there were hot days, and fewer rains, I noticed round patches of brown scattered about. I knew immediately what these were so I took my shovel and dug down beneath one of the dead spots... sure enough I didn’t dig very deep before I heard the familiar ring of the metal blade striking rock. It took a couple of seasons but eventually I had removed all those rocks, and the solid carpet of green returned. Our faith can be a lot like my new yard; it springs up quickly when seeded in the spring, but requires several seasons of diligently removing rocks before it remains a solid green carpet. Grass needs soil for its root system to thrive, and our faith needs the soil of God’s Word to be deep so that it can send its roots down too. How are we dealing with the rocks we find in our faith? Are we transforming ourselves by working with Jesus and the Holy Spirit to remove them?
“Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.”
Matthew 13:5-6 ESV
Then there are the weeds! The farmer in the parable didn’t remove the thorns that had encroached on his field, and when his seed fell in them the new growth was robbed of its nutrients, sunlight, and the shallow new roots were crowded out. Removing weeds from our gardens is a constant chore too, and when we run across a thorn, such as a green briar, it can be painful as well, but this job must be done if our plants are to bear fruit, and remain healthy. Faith is just like this, and as the world constantly attempts to invade our spiritual gardens it must be quickly pulled up by its roots before it takes over. We soon learn that when Satan sees our faith thriving he turns quickly towards us, and attempts to rob us of our joy. Calling out to God in prayer, and asking Him to help us as we say “Get thee behind me Satan” should be our immediate response.
“Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.”
Matthew 13:7 ESV
Finally, if we are diligent in our efforts to maintain the faith, walk in the fullness of it, prepare the ground for it, and not grow lax in combating the enemies of it, then our fields, yards, and beds of faith will bear much fruit, and we can give God His first fruits, the much deserved offerings from His fields, and walk with Him in the cool grass in the evening of each day.
“Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
Matthew 13:8 ESV
This is how we should establish our roots of faith, but are we doing these things? Are we using the tools provided to us in the Bible, God’s Word, as we establish, maintain, and defend the roots of our faith? Let’s contemplate this today.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the seed of faith you have provided each of us, and thank you for teaching us how to plant it, care for it, and grow it to maturity. Help us Lord to become farmers of faith, and to teach to others to be the same. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you who we praise from your fields, and worship as we harvest the fruit of spiritual bounty that springs forth there. You are merciful Father, and send rain in abundance, and let the sun shine to drive our roots of our faith deep into the soil of righteousness. Hear our prayers as we whisper them from bended knee as we work your fields, and share in the joy of your bounty. Take pleasure in the melody as we sing to you of your goodness, grace, and your Son Jesus. Give us rest in you Lord, and feed us a feast at your table when the harvest is in, and it is time to relax in the comfort of your eternal peace. Praised be your name forevermore!
““Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.””
Jeremiah 17:7-8 ESV
Rich Forbes