HOW TO BE AN EFFECTIVE AND FRUITFUL CHRISTIAN (PART 3).
TEXT:
"And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture."
(Luke 8 verse 6, King James Version).
There's a close relationship between your depth of experience with God, and your effectiveness and fruitfulness in life. Most times when the Omniscient God has foreseen the adversities you will go through in life, He gives to you startling empirical revelations and ability to know Him and to understand His Word. He brings you into a deep relationship with Him. Oftentimes, this is to serve to bestow on you a well grounded and unshakable conviction of the reality of His existence and what He stands for. This is to the end that no trials or storms of life are capable of changing your convictions about Him. Glory to God!
In the Scripture reading for today from the parable of the Sower in Luke 8, we are told that some seeds "fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture." (Luke 8 verse 6). The Lord Jesus while explaining the meaning in verse 13 of the same chapter said, "They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away."
Here, the problem with the people that are hereby referred is that they have a shallow commitment to the Word. In other words, the Word of God does not take root in their lives. In practical life, the people caught in this web are the intelligentsia of the world, who because of much learning and exposure to reason have become lost and shut out of the truth and its reality (see 2nd Corinthians 4 verse 3) The rich and the affluent folks of the world are also in this category (see Matthew 19 verses 23 to 24). They appear content with wealth and most times do not see the need for God and His Word. This, to me, is highly delusional and dangerous because by the time they realise the truth, it's already too late for them. The Western world was noted for this until the recent economic meltdown and the impact of Covid-19 that shook the very foundation of their false reliance on self and the general godlessness for which they'd been known.
Like I said, the problem with the people in this category is that the Word of God doesn't take root in their hearts. Just as a plant must possess a strong root system in order to grow well, so must we be rooted and well grounded in God's Word for us to be both effective and fruitful in life as Christians.
It's trite that a seed in a shallow earth has the tendency to germinate and grow visibly faster than the one planted in a deep soil. The reason for this is that the seed in the rocky shallow earth has nowhere else to grow but upward! But the seed in the deep soil on the other hand will have the tendency to grow deep down in the bid to develop the roots first before growing upward. Don't be deceived: the plant in the shallow soil will for a while appear to grow faster than the other one, but will after a while, for lack of moisture, wither and die. However, the plant in the deep soil with a good root system will grow strong and become fruitful.
This is the ultimate lot of Christians who are shallow and not deeply rooted in the Word of God. In the slightest event of persecution, temptation and trial, they fall away. (see Luke 8 verse 13).
One of the lessons we learn here is that you don't get carried away with the visible growth of others, especially those who aren't firmly established in the truth of God's Word. Soon and very soon, they dry up and you don't find them standing. I've seen ministries that once thrived, but as they were not Word based, they soon dried up and aren't in existence anymore. May our lot be far from this, in Jesus name.
PRAYER:
Father, henceforth, I take time to establish myself deeply in Your Word that I might be effective and fruitful, in Jesus name.