A Stony Heart.

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5992868649400573825.post-3625703408935811832008-05-02T10:20:00.001-07:002008-05-02T10:20:28.690-07:00A Stony Heart.A Stony Heart. Mark 3:31-35 & 4:1-9. Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You." Mark 3:31-33 (NKJV) This announcement came just after preaching that a house divided against its self will fall and here we see that it applies all aspects of life, even to a man's own family. Now the word had gone out that Jesus was crazy and that the work He was doing was of the Devil. The gospels tell us that at times, even His own family did not believe in what He was doing and this reference here is a good example. We must remember that being a Christian may separate you from your family. Mathew tells us that Christ also preached saying, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.' He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. Matthew 10:34-39 (NKJV) Though we do not know the true nature of their summons, they were not willing to come to Him; they wanted Him to stop what He was doing and come away with them. The interruption to preaching was not an honorable thing to do and His brothers were leading the family to act badly towards the preaching of the gospel. But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?" And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother." Mark 3:33-35 (NKJV) If you notice, He did not make any reference to "Mary, the Holy mother of God," but was ready to cast her aside for not being in submission to the work of God. The same applies to His brothers; if they were not ready to follow the work of God, they were not fit to be considered family. This did not mean that He did not love them; it only meant that they had set out in a direction that would lead to destruction, a place that He would not follow them to and this was a warning to all who listened. This is a message that needs to be sent deep into the church; we do not throw away our families. Our love must be ever ready for them to come and follow Jesus; yet our attachment to them must be gripped with a soft hand allowing them to pull away if they desire. Families can be very tight knit and loyalty is often a theme that many take sincere; but a Christian must not be bound to the family so that it pulls them away from the work of God. This is why the statement exists saying "A family that prays together stays together." And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching: "Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred." And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" Mark 4:1-9 (NKJV) No building, no rental fees, no permits, or planning, Jesus was able to preach in the open with very little concern. Yet so many came to hear Him that He had to sit in a boat off the shore to keep the people back. There are people eager to know the Lord and after knowing the Lord, they are eager to do the work of the Lord. You will find them involved, being the light to their families, reaching out to their community, and participating to causes that drop the seeds of the gospel around the world. Yet though the seeds are dropping, it does not mean that a great harvest is going to happen. Here Jesus wanted each person to consider that the understanding they were given needed to sink deep within their soul and to sprout and grow to fruition. Yet the problem in growth is not the seed or the way it was planted, but the ground to which it is planted in. Some people have hearts that are stony. If you have ever planted a lawn, you will find that every rock must be removed or you will have patchy bear spots. The more rocks the more patches and the seeds falling onto stony ground cannot take root. Even when there is a little dirt on the surface, roots cannot grow past the stones below the surface and the sprouting grass will wither and die. The person who goes to church to be blessed on Sunday, but during the week days does not expel the stones from their life can expect the seeds planted to wither and die. These are Christians who know not to drink to excess, but do regardless. Some do not bridal their tongue and if they are not debating in anger, they are spewing words of ill content. Other stones in a person's life can be pornographic material, greed, the love of money, hate, gossip, cheating, lying, and that is only a few stones that we skipped across the water; yet when we drop them into our life, they may sink below the dirt, not to be seen, but the evidence will surface when seeds of the truth of God's word sprout and die. In addition to stones that stop root growth are weeds that choke the nourishment to the plants and from these a good crop cannot be produced. Simply put, bad company corrupts good morals. The friends in our life need to be of the caliber that they fortify God's work in our life and help to water the seeds of the gospel planed in our hearts. Those friends or family that entices you to do other can become very harmful, even to the loss of your salvation. Friends, family, and the things we allow into our life are very relevant to our success in obtaining our goal of eternity in heaven with Jesus Christ. From the parable of Christ concerning the seed and the thoughts He had towards those He would consider His family, we should all draw the conclusion that we need good people in our life that will help us meet our objective. We must till the ground and consider our hearts as a field and let the seeds of God's word take root and grow to bring an abundant harvest. Yet this cannot happen if you heart is stony.TCW Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17670070074138564679noreply@blogger.com