Friday: Further Thought – Parables
Daily Lesson for Friday 26th of July 2024
Read Ellen G. White, “ ‘The Sower Went Forth to Sow,’ ” Pages 33–61, in Christ’s Object Lessons.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
“True holiness is wholeness in the service of God. This is the condition of true Christian living. Christ asks for an unreserved consecration, for undivided service. He demands the heart, the mind, the soul, the strength. Self is not to be cherished. He who lives to himself is not a Christian.
“Love must be the principle of action. Love is the underlying principle of God’s government in heaven and earth, and it must be the foundation of the Christian’s character. This alone can make and keep him steadfast. This alone can enable him to withstand trial and temptation.
“And love will be revealed in sacrifice. The plan of redemption was laid in sacrifice—a sacrifice so broad and deep and high that it is immeasurable. Christ gave all for us, and those who receive Christ will be ready to sacrifice all for the sake of their Redeemer. The thought of His honor and glory will come before anything else.”—Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, Pages 48, 49.
Discussion Questions
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Sometimes we think of spreading the Gospel in competitive terms. We want to know that there is a high "Return on Investment". Jesus was much more pragmatic than that. There is one big takeaway from the parable of the sower: Not everyone is going to accept the Gospel. The Gospel is something that is sown irrespective of soil fertility. And while it is satisfying to see the response from good soil, maybe we should not ignore the poor ground.
When the English settlers came to Australia they wanted to grow wheat like they did in England. The ground was cleared from the scrubby Mallee land but it left tree roots in the ground. This made it difficult to plough (plow for those who cannot spell). They broke their ploughs on the tough roots. Then someone had a bright idea and invented what is now known as a "Jump-Plough". When the ploughshare hits a tree root or rock it jumps out of the ground to clear the obstacle.
Taking the parable of the sower into the 21st Century, we have a very difficult paddock where we are to sow the Gospel. Yet, there is good soil among the rocks, so that may be the incentive to be inventive in our effort to sow the Gospel.
I mentioned earlier this week that we are pretty good at talking about the Gospel among ourselves, but that our language is meaningless to those who live in the rocky parts of the field. Jesus asked us to preach the Gospel to all the world. Our prayer should be that the Holy Spirit should teach us how to be creative in our Gospel sowing so we can reach the poor soil.
Maurice, you are spot on with your assessment. Without the Holy Spirit working together with us we labor in vain. The "Gospel seed" must be watered to germinate. The "showers of blessing" of the early rain must happen, or nothing else will.
In my early experience as a Bibleworker I regularly claimed the latter part of John 4:35 as I sowed the Gospel seed;"I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest."
Unfortunately, too often I saw only weeds. So many are distracted by the cares and attractions of this life that they either weren't interested or didn't have time to receive the Gospel seed. I had to remind myself to keep sowing the seed because we may never know this side of Heaven, the full results of our efforts.
It reminds me of an experience I had while canvassing. A woman answered the door while putting on her ear rings. Obviously she was preparing to go to some fancy affair. She said she didn't have much time and inquired what we wanted. We quickly asked her the questions on our survey, the last one being, "if you were to die tonight would you be lost or saved?" To which she hung her head and said that her sister had told her that because she had done so many bad things she wouldn't be saved. I was immediately impressed to share 1 John 1:9 with her to give her hope and an opportunity to escape the sentence that her sister had declared upon her. We offered to pray for her but she didn't have time. We gave her a tract, and as she turned to go I noticed tears in her eyes as she thanked us for coming to her house. I hope that the seed we planted in her heart germinated and brought forth fruit. I hope to see her in the Kingdom.
Everyone wants to drive the Combine, bringing in the "sheaves". It's truly rewarding and exciting. However, our first job is to sow the seed. We may be given opportunities to plough 😉 the soil, water the seed, or even, to bring in the harvest. However, there will be no harvest if there is no sowing of the Gospel seed.
The Lord of the harvest has a "help wanted, now hiring" sign in the window. I heard that His retirement benefits are " out of this world".
Some of the key points from today's lesson are: For us to positively influence our environment, first, we need to be impregnated by God's infinite Love. (We cannot give what we do not have). Let's hope everyone in this group falls in love with the Incredible that provides us with life.
How are we living brothers and sisters??
I hope that we are actively engaged in winning others for Christ
through our various means and not just tending to our personal garden alone!!!!
Parables are basically stories. Most people are willing to listen to a story, where as very few like to be "preached at".
Stories that we can relate to, whether by personal experience or curiosity are the ones we're more likely to pay attention to.
During the church service, there's usually a children's story to engage the younger set for obvious reasons.
Set the story to music and even more folks will pay attention. Music helps mind and heart remember, and be receptive to the Word.
I consider the following Scripture to perfectly express the purpose for which we have been consecrated. The power of transformation inherent in God’s Word, seeded and growing in our born-again nature, leads us to use this new, God-given nature to inform all that: God is reconciling the world to Himself in CHRIST!
2 Cor.5:16-20
v.16 - ”So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
v.17 - Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!
v.18 – 19 All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
v.20 Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.
There is only one GOD - the Creator of heaven and earth and all that is within. No other power, no other teacher, no other Truth can save man and lead him to the new, born-again life in Christ Jesus! Psalm 9:7-12
Happy rest day to all of us!