As I pondered my current feelings I was led to a passage in Mark where Jesus is teaching the Disciples about the stages of faith. He teaches them the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:3-9). In verses 4:13-20 he explains the parable to them. For many weeks I’ve felt like the “seed that fell among thorns” in that I have allowed the worries of life, deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things to come in and choke out my faith leaving me unfruitful. I’ve been so preoccupied with my perceived “problems” that I’ve lost sight of what should bring me joy.
Romans 5:2-3 says …and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not
only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering
produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Let that sink in a moment. We should rejoice, be full of joy because of wealth, health, social status, our great family’s, our spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, new car, new house, retirement portfolio, our church, our pastor, our nation, our customers, our successes, the sports team we cheer for, our children’s extracurricular activity or our education level. NO! That is not what brings us joy or should make us rejoice! We have joy in the hope of the glory of God. Only God’s glory is everlasting. Only God’s glory will cause us to live forever. Only God’s glory is worthy of our attention and our hope. Not the other things. The other things are what Christ taught will choke out our witness of His glory and make us unfruitful.
Well, I know what I need to let go of and cling to so that I’m a fruitful follower of Christ. How about you? What’s causing you to feel bummed out that you need to let go of and let God deal with?
