Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, dear ones.

Can I blame age for my late risings? And I used to take power naps—10-15 minutes. But now I can knock out an hour with no effort. To be sure, sleeping in till 6am makes it real tough to cook up fresh devotional essays. But with the encouragement of Becki along with some PERSEVERENCE, I did so this morning.

We were able to do our walk/jog routine on our own place again. The dogs seem to be as pumped with the routine here as they would if we were out on the road. And they make us just as frustrated—and lose balls just as fast.

I put a big log on the sawmill last evening without the use of my track hoe that is still awaiting some repairs. It was too heavy to lift with my skid steer forks, but I devised a skidding operation and succeeded at getting it to the hydraulic loading arms of mill. I should be able to glean all the board and bat for a small order from that one log. So finishing that is on the list—plus a bunch of other stuff.

Here we go—taking on a new day amidst a beautiful morning.

Love, Dad/Ray.

This story Jesus tells about God’s farming project features four kinds of soil—soil “along the path,” soil “on the rock,” soil “among thorns,” and “good soil.” Each of those soil conditions process the seed of the Gospel Word of God differently. Three represent crop failures. Only one succeeds. But why?

Hearing Jesus’ story casually could lay the blame for failure in the wrong direction. We could assume that the causes for failure are “the devil” (“The devil made me do it!”), “no root,” (“How can I be blamed for my roots?”), “life’s worries, riches, and pleasures” (I’m only human—how can I not be driven by these things within the context of circumstances I can’t control?”). If you see what I see (or hear what I hear), there is no clear reference made to personal responsibility. However, I think the matters of choice and personal responsibility are clearly implied. Building on the thesis that YOU ARE AS CLOSE TO GOD RIGHT NOW AS YOU WANT TO BE, we can generate another one that I think is just as valid: YOU ARE THE KIND OF SOIL THAT YOU WANT TO BE. As a general rule, no one is such a victim of their circumstances so as to be robotically controlled in their response to them. After all, when Jesus sets forth the bottom-line priority of the Kingdom of God—“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33)—I don’t have to if I don’t want to.

Even the statement Jesus makes in the last verse of this reading is supportive of this approach: “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice” (v. 21). I notice something I wrote in the margin of my Bible from an earlier reading: “PRACTICAL PRODUCTION or POPULAR PAGANISM.”

If I have ever been given a clear Biblical definition of a HEART AFTER GOD, I have it here: “But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.” I must CHOOSE that condition and quality every day. It only makes sense that a successful farmer must be in it for the long haul—all the way through harvest.