Have you ever come to the place in your walk with God where you wonder, "Is that all there is?" Have you ever felt like you were stagnating? Like something was missing in your relationship with Him?
The temptation in these days of fast food and instant gratification is to go find a quick spiritual "fix" for the problem. A revival, maybe. Some new and exciting manifestations of the spirit, perhaps. Even digging into scripture and finding some previously unseen truth may put a bandaid over the problem. But if you ever want to get to the root of the problem and deal with that, you have to dig a little deeper.
In his teaching, Jesus made a sharp distinction between two kinds of followers, and it's important that we understand where he drew the line -- and where he didn't draw it -- between them. He didn't draw it between those who went to church (or synagogue) and those who didn't; or between those who did miracles and those who didn't. He didn't draw the line between those who were Bible scholars and those who weren't. Rather, he drew it between those who merely heard his words and accepted them as true, and those who actually carried them out.
Matthew 7:21.
7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Clearly Jesus wasn't impressed by a mere confession of Lordship by those who would follow him, if it wasn't accompanied by doing the will of God, as opposed to doing our own will, which is man's favorite pastime.
In James, the same distinction between the same two types of followers is made in more detail.
James 1:21-25.
1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
1:24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Here we are warned that one who only hears the Word of God, and doesn't do what it says, is only fooling himself. The doer of the work, the one who carries out what God has said in His Word, will be blessed by God in what he does. The "forgetful hearer" receives nothing.
James warns us that we must receive the Word of God with meekness. Meekness is, among other things, a willingness to receive instruction. We must be willing to admit that God is right and we are wrong. But we must go further. We must carry out what He has said, or we are nothing more than "forgetful hearers."
It's quite possible to WANT to be a doer of the Word, and not merely a "forgetful hearer," and still fail to carry out the will of God. The rich young ruler who questioned Jesus about eternal life is an example of such a person.
Mark 10:17-22
10:17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
10:18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
10:19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
10:20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
10:21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
10:22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.
This young man came to Jesus wanting eternal life. He had been walking according to the law, so far as he knew, from his youth. But still, he sensed that something was missing in his walk with God. Jesus, in love, pointed out to him what it was, by giving him an instruction that went right to the heart of his problem. What did this man do? He went away sorrowing. He just couldn't do it. He had heard God's will for his life. He agreed with it. Yet he could not bring himself to do it. What was his problem?
Mark 10:24
10:24 And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
According to Jesus, he had put his trust in riches, and that is what stood in the way of his obedience to God.
But the example of this young man points out another important truth: partial obedience to God's Word doesn't cut it. This young man was obedient in most respects. Yet his disobedience in this one area kept him from being a true follower of Christ.
God's Word is not a smorgasbord. We don't get to pick and choose from a selection of available options what we will and will not do in obedience to God. God demands our whole heart, our whole being, and He will be satisfied with nothing less.
Occasionally we, like this young man, will run into areas in our life where we just do not want to obey our Lord. Does that mean we are in rebellion against our Lord? No, it doesn't. But just as Jesus, in love, pointed out what was lacking in the life of this young man, so also will he point out what is lacking in ours. His purpose is not to condemn us, but to help us to mature in him.
Those areas of our heart where we find strong resistance to doing things God's way are "strongholds." They aren't usually dealt with in a moment of time. Just as they weren't built in a day, they aren't demolished in a day. Yet they can be demolished, and God's Word tells us how.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5.
10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
Strongholds of resistance in our minds can only be policing our thoughts, examining them to make sure that they are in subjection to Christ, and by bringing captive every thought to the obedience of Christ.
In the end, that's where the battle is won or lost -- in our thought life. Do you demand the freedom to think what you want to think in the privacy of your own mind? Or are you doing battle in your mind to lead each and every thought captive, and to subject each thought to what God has said? That's true "spiritual warfare."
At the end of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus contrasted doers of the Word and those who were hearers only. He indicated that one way to tell which you were was by your response to the storms of life.
Matthew 7:24-27.
7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
It is implied here that major storms will come, regardless of how you build your house. It is also clear that the difference between the house that withstands the storm and the house that collapses is the foundation. The foundation of the house built on the rock is not merely the Word of God, but hearing and doing what the Word of God says. Merely hearing it and agreeing with it is building on sand. The houses may look very much alike during the good times. But the real test is the storms.
Is your house built on the rock? Can it withstand the storms of life?
The Parable of the Sower gives us some clues about how to go about building our house on the rock. In that parable, Jesus distinguished between four different conditions of the heart, comparing them with four different kinds of ground: the wayside, the stony ground, the weedy ground, and the good ground.
Matthew 13:18-23.
13:18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
13:20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
13:21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
13:22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
13:23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
There is no problem with the seed. The seed is all good, and capable of bringing forth much fruit. It is the condition of the soil that determines how fruitful the seed sown will be.
Fortunately, the condition of the soil can be changed. Ground that is hard and rocky today can be plowed and loosened tomorrow, and become incredibly fruitful. Likewise, ground that is good today can become overgrown with weeds, or, worse yet, hard and dry, so that what was once a fruitful place is now barren. It is our responsibility to prepare the soil of our hearts to receive the Word of God, so that it can bring forth much fruit in our lives.
Hosea 10:12
10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
The ground by the wayside represents the heart that does not understand God's Word, and is in danger of losing it altogether.
1 Corinthians 2:14
2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
This heart must become meek to God's Word before it can receive it and keep it. Usually this means that it must discover that its own wisdom and understanding are flawed and inadequate. Sometimes this comes about by means of personal failure, hard times, or adverse circumstances. Occasionally it comes about from a desire to know God. Once it realizes that its own wisdom is foolishness in God's eyes, it is ready to receive and hold on to the good seed of God's Word.
The stony ground represents the heart that has no depth of knowledge of God's Word. This is the heart that is satisfied with a surface knowledge of the Word of God, and sees no need to pursue the deeper things of God. For the good seed to take root, the ground must be broken up and loosened, and the rocks removed.
Preparing rocky ground for God's Word requires systematically casting down everything in our thinking that exalts itself against God's Word. It is not enough to have a thin layer of meekness to God's Word on top of a bedrock of fleshly and worldly convictions. The very foundation of our lives must be changed, so that God's Word is at the very core of our being.
The weedy ground is in many ways the most challenging, because the plant itself looks so much like a healthy plant. Here the good seed has taken root and is growing. There is no longer an immediate danger of the crop being lost. In this situation, our adversary changes the focus of his attack from the plant itself to its fruit. He does not mind so much that you continue to grow, that your leaves look green and lovely, so long as you remain unfruitful. In plain terms, he does not mind that you belong to God, so long as you look and think and act like the world.
He uses three key weapons to accomplish this.
Mark 4:18-19.
4:18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
4:19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
Here is an important truth: not all of the enemy's attacks are unpleasant. He may beat on you with the pressures, problems and responsibilities that go with living in an ungodly world, to get you to compromise God's Word to solve your problems or meet your needs; or he may try to convince you that money is the solution to your problems, so that you waste your life and throw away all that is truly worthwhile in its pursuit; or he may offer you what you want most in life, so that you must choose between that and God. Yet though his methods may differ, his goal remains the same: to steal, to kill and to destroy (John 10:10).
The person represented by the thorny or weedy ground has already made the Word of God his or her foundation. Now it must become this person's priority. Everything in life must be made second to obedience to God.
Matthew 6:24, 33
6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon...
6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Luke 14:26
14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Only when this person's priorities are straightened out will he or she bring forth the fruit they were meant to bear. Obedience to God must come first; then everything else will fall into its proper place.
The good ground represents the person who not only hears God's word, but does it. This person has made God's Word the foundation for their life and thinking, and has made obedience to God and His Word their top priority. This person is characterized by fruitfulness. He or she reflects the character of God and of Christ.
The good news is that we can change. We can cultivate the soil of our hearts to make it ready to receive the good seed of God's Word.