This Sunday at CDC, we were privileged to have our own sister Tabitha share on the “Parable of the Sower”, one of the Lord’s most powerful parables which speaks to the depths of the human heart.
We begin with a picture of a farmer sowing his seed. The seeds fall on different soil. Some will grow and some will not. Jesus is the Farmer and our hearts are the soil. And there are different kinds of hearts as there are different kinds of soil.
Firstly, some of the seed fell on the wayside. The wayside is hard and compact. Nothing grows out of it. The seed cannot penetrate through the ground and as such, birds fly by and take it away. A heart which is like the wayside is hard and unbelieving. Like a ball thrown against a wall, the Word of God only bounces back harder. For seed on the wayside to grow, grounding work needs to be done first. To break up hardened hearts, we need prayer…. Even in Jesus’ time, many saw His miracles but refused to believe He was the Son of God. Sin and pride are the main causes behind every hardened heart.
Secondly, some of the seed fell on stony ground, which did not have much soil. The seed sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow but withered when the sun came up. These were the seeds with no root. Likewise, many believers receive the Word of God with joy at once, but when trouble and persecution come, they cannot sustain their faith because they have no root. In reality, their spiritual life is shallow and they cannot understand that hardship is good for them.
Thirdly, some of the seed fell among thorns. The thorns sprang up together with the seed and eventually choked the plants, making them unfruitful. The thorns of our heart are described as the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things…. Life is naturally drawn towards “bigger and better”, bigger houses, bigger cars, all the latest handphones and gadgets. But all these things only weigh down a Christian’s life making it unfruitful.
Finally, some of the seed fell on good soil, producing a crop, a 100, 60 or 30 times what was sown. The good soil refers to the one who hears the word of God and understands it and obeys, hence producing a fruitful life for God. Sister Tabitha shared with us the importance of maintaining good soil in our hearts. To maintain good soil, we must continually work at it, breaking up the grounds, removing the rocks and stones and weeding away the thorns. By reading the Word of God and praying, we add nutrients to the good soil, from which we will later reap the Fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control.
We were exhorted then to take the whole purpose of God seriously, as Ephesians 2:10 says “We are his workmanship….”
In closing, sister Tabitha encouraged us to look within at the soils of our heart. Is there hard soil? Let us repent and become humble. Is there stony ground? Let us throw out the stones and dig deep. Is there thorny soil? Uproot the things of the world! Is there good soil? Maintain it, and be steadfast.
As our Lord Jesus stood at his baptism by John the Baptist, the clouds broke open and God spoke “This is my son, which whom I am well pleased.” The Lord had done no miracles yet or began His powerful ministry, but God was pleased with Him for He had been faithful.
May the Lord teach us to cultivate good soil in our hearts, that we may bear fruit and glorify Him with fruitful lives. God bless, Jason
Dealing with Worry (based on sermon notes by Lee Jou Li)
This Sunday, our own sister Tabitha gave the message at CDC on a very important topic which affects all of us : Dealing with worry.
Matthew 6:25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
As we continued the Sermon of the Mount, our Lord Jesus now addressed a very important issue affecting most of the people listening to Him – the worries of life. During the time of the gospels, many were poor fishermen, farmers, carpenters and the like. What an average person could eat or wear the next day was a very serious concern. Imagine, even the soldiers of the Roman army did not have enough clothes to wear. They actually cast lots for the undergarments of Jesus, bloodstained and all.
Today for us in Malaysia, food and clothing is not so much a concern for us. We are fortunate to be in a country where food and clothing is relatively cheap with a large variety available to us. However, to the average person, there is plenty indeed to worry about – housing loans, car loans, rising petrol costs, health problems, relationship problems, children’s education and much, much more assail us each day. Making ends meet is certainly no easy matter, especially for those who live in the city.
Constant worrying has many ill-effects. It disrupts productivity and makes our work ineffective, robs us of our health, blocks us from doing God’s will, disrupts our relationships and reduces our ability to trust God. Focusing on this last point, sister Tabitha shared with us how the opposite of worry is trust. The element of trust is so important in every relationship. Without trust, how can we live with our husbands/wives, family, business partners, colleagues, and friends? In the same way, we must trust God to build our relationship with Him.
Sister Tabitha then gave us four important principles we need to uphold to handle our worries in life:-
(1)Let your heavenly Father take care of you!
Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Our Heavenly Father is our powerful Creator God who created the heavens and the earth. Everything belongs to Him and His wealth is limitless, He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, as the psalmist writes… He is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord our Provider, and He will provide all our needs when we come to Him. In Matthew Chapter 7, Jesus further explains:-
7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Our Heavenly Father will give good gifts to us if we only ask Him. Sometimes, we ask for certain things but do not receive because God, in His heavenly wisdom knows it is not good for us. However, as we continue to come to Him, will He not bless us with the blessings He knows is best for us? We must learn to let our Heavenly Father take care of us!
(2)Cast your cares upon Him!
1 Peter 5: 6Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you, 7Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. (Amplified Bible)
Sometimes, we refuse to give our worries to God. Especially true in many Chinese families, we have the “save face” mentality, where we see our honor in our independence, and disdain the need of getting help from others. However, the lovely Scripture in 1 Peter exhorts us to cast all our burdens and worries on God, all of it for He cares for us. He is our all-loving and all-compassionate God. And once we leave our worries to Him , let us not take it back again but trust Him to see us through our problems!
(3)Take your life as it comes!
Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
God has equipped you with the capacity to handle what you have to handle today! Jesus exhorts us not to worry about tomorrow, but focus on doing the best we can today! This does not mean we should not plan for tomorrow. The wise man builds his house upon the rock! It is good to plan and take wise steps for the future, but in all our planning, ask God for wisdom, for He generously gives to all without finding fault. In other words, just do and plan our best today, and leave tomorrow to God!
(4)Trust God and His promises!
Joshua Not one of all the LORD's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.
Our God is righteous and just, He keeps all His promises. Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to us will fail. If His Word says that He will take care of those who come to Him, He certainly will!
Sister Tabitha then read from Matthew 14:22-33, the passage of Jesus walking on Water. Peter walked towards Jesus only upon His command. As long as we walk on the Word of God, we will be safe and secure. However, when we lose our concentration on God and look towards the storms and waves in our lives, we will, like Peter, start to sink, until we come back to God!
In ending, sister Tabitha shared with us the song “There is no problem too big” which encouraged us that there is nothing impossible for God, no mountain or valley is too great for us to overcome.
May each one of us learn how to cast all our cares and worries on God and depend on Him to carry us through each day.
