So once upon a time I was talking about gingerbread men, the matrix, spoon bending, and oh most importantly epiphanies. Particularly one that involved the parable of the sower found in Matthwe 13:1-23. We've all heard the story, whether in Sunday school, by reading it, or just hearing it from other people. But have we really stopped to evaluate what it means to our lives?
I had learned about this story in church, the seed represented the gospel and the ground represented lost souls. This way of looking at it is good. But it usually causes believers to fall asleep, saying well I already received the gospel so this passage isn't very crucial to how I live anymore.
Wrong.
A few weeks ago, this parable was taught in a totally different way for me.
Think of the seed as the Word of God. Not just the Bible, not just sermons. Think of His word as anything He shows you. Every conviction, every example He gives you, every time He touches your life in any way; through the Bible, prayer, worship...anything. Now think of the ground as your heart.
No, that's right; it's all your heart, the whole field.
I was challenged to look at the ground of what was going on inside; and yes, as an ex-gingerbread woman I was not looking forward to introspection. I really didn't want to know what was in there. I was too afraid to look.
But I was tired...really tired, of the way that I'd been living. My life, faith, hopes, relationships, everything was crumbling around me and I desperately wanted it to stop. I knew what I needed was change.
Drastic and whole-hearted. A daring type of change.
So despite all my reservations and fears, curiosity won out. If this was a crucial part of grabbing onto the more abundant life that Jesus promised, then I was going to try it.
In I went, to search the cavernous, terrifying depths of my own soul. Flashlight and rope in hand I repelled further than I'd ever bothered to go before.
Though it is scary, dark, and unwelcoming in there, I was determined to find the ghastly monster hidden in there that was robbing me of the life God created me to live.
