Luke 10:38-42
"Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving along? Then tell her to help me.!"
This morning Ava and I ran some errands and then got home. Ava was playing in her little play area in the kitchen and I was putting up dishes and wiping down the cabinets and countertop. I had just poured myself a cup of coffee and I look over and Ava was pulling out her tea party set. She looked at me and smiled. At first I thought about all the housework I needed to be working on while she was entertaining herself. But then I thought about how fast she is growing up and I did not want to miss out on a "mommy and daughter moment". So I set aside my cup of coffee and my "to-do" list and I sat down and had a tea party. Ava and I were joined in our tea party by her Cabbage Patch dolls and Curious George.
This scripture above and the real life experience that I had this morning just reminded me to put everything in my life into the correct perspective. In less then 18 years Ava will be graduating from high school and moving on into the exciting future that God has for her. She may be going on the mission field, entering college or starting a career. I don't want to miss a moment or take for granted the time that God has given me with my precious daughter. My calling as a mother is to invest in the spiritual, emotional, educational and physical life of my child. When Ava is grown up and she looks back at her childhood will she remember the perfect house that I kept or will she remember that I took the time to have a tea party?
Friday, April 23, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Where do the seeds go?
The Story of the Sower: Matthew 13:1-23
Today at church we had "testimony day". It was a time when several of the church member were asked to share about their lives before Christ, how Christ changed their lives and how thier life is different today. As I sat in the service I could not help but think about the parable of the sower. The basic story line is this. A farmer goes out to his field to pant some seeds. The seed represent the gospel. Some of the seeds land on the path and the birds quickly come and eat them up. Some seeds fall on the rocky land, where there is little soil. They spring up quickly and then because they do not have any roots that die. Then there are others that grow amongst the thorns. But as they grow, so do the thorns and they are choked out. Finally there is a group of seeds that is sown into the good soil and they grow and produce many, many healthy plants.
How can this parable be applied to our present day church life in regards to evangilism and discipleship. The first group of seeds that are thrown on the path and quickly eaten up by the birds, can represent when witnessing to a group of people that are hard to the gospel or just do not understand the point of salvation and life-change and they simpley walk away. The second group of seeds are like those that people who hear the gospel, they quickly have a major life change, but the "high" of their new found salvation quickly goes away and they are back to their old life. The third group of seeds that fall amongst the thorns represent those who find salvation but continue to surround themselves with people that bring them down in their faith and do not encourage them to grow in their walk with the Lord. They never make any kind of major life decisions in order to grow thier faith or improve their lives, they simpley let life just happen and eventually their faith dwindles. The last group of seeds are those seeds that fall on the good ground and grow and flourish. These are the people that accept the gospel, have a life- changing experience in Christ and then and this is important, grow in their faith. They attend church, get invovlved in a small group or Sunday School and deepen their faith each day with a quiet time. Day by day, week by week, year by year their knowledge and faith grows and their roots of salvation deepen and strengthen.
So the question is what type of seed are you? What type of seed do you want to be? Unlike literal seeds that do not have the means to move or change, you have that opportunity. One of my favoirite quote is, "God accepts you just the way you are, but loves you too much to keep you that way." GROW, FLOURISH, NURTURE OTHERS!
Today at church we had "testimony day". It was a time when several of the church member were asked to share about their lives before Christ, how Christ changed their lives and how thier life is different today. As I sat in the service I could not help but think about the parable of the sower. The basic story line is this. A farmer goes out to his field to pant some seeds. The seed represent the gospel. Some of the seeds land on the path and the birds quickly come and eat them up. Some seeds fall on the rocky land, where there is little soil. They spring up quickly and then because they do not have any roots that die. Then there are others that grow amongst the thorns. But as they grow, so do the thorns and they are choked out. Finally there is a group of seeds that is sown into the good soil and they grow and produce many, many healthy plants.
How can this parable be applied to our present day church life in regards to evangilism and discipleship. The first group of seeds that are thrown on the path and quickly eaten up by the birds, can represent when witnessing to a group of people that are hard to the gospel or just do not understand the point of salvation and life-change and they simpley walk away. The second group of seeds are like those that people who hear the gospel, they quickly have a major life change, but the "high" of their new found salvation quickly goes away and they are back to their old life. The third group of seeds that fall amongst the thorns represent those who find salvation but continue to surround themselves with people that bring them down in their faith and do not encourage them to grow in their walk with the Lord. They never make any kind of major life decisions in order to grow thier faith or improve their lives, they simpley let life just happen and eventually their faith dwindles. The last group of seeds are those seeds that fall on the good ground and grow and flourish. These are the people that accept the gospel, have a life- changing experience in Christ and then and this is important, grow in their faith. They attend church, get invovlved in a small group or Sunday School and deepen their faith each day with a quiet time. Day by day, week by week, year by year their knowledge and faith grows and their roots of salvation deepen and strengthen.
So the question is what type of seed are you? What type of seed do you want to be? Unlike literal seeds that do not have the means to move or change, you have that opportunity. One of my favoirite quote is, "God accepts you just the way you are, but loves you too much to keep you that way." GROW, FLOURISH, NURTURE OTHERS!
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