PLANTING SEED
By Synthia Esther
We perceive the world from the eyes of our personal experiences which program how we view, think and react to our life's circumstances. If we have been programed with hate, abuse and negativity we grow up thinking most all of humanity is made up with people of the same psychological mind set. If we have been raised and programed with a life besieged with addictions, we grow up using those same abusive coping strategies. Perhaps you were raised with feelings of abandonment and rejection by those close to you.
Many children are taught and raised to believe in God's Biblical core values and principals yet whose parents or care-givers never demonstrated or expressed God's empathy, compassion, love, self-sacrifice or discipline. They may have paid their tithes, attended church regularly, professed a Christian belief system yet their life was filled with sin, greed, self-serving pride, judgmental and shaming criticism, perfectionism, abuse, negativity, etc... 2 Timothy 3:5, ... having a form of Godliness but denying its power. God speaks of the double-minded person in Revelation 3:16, "So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth." As a child no matter what human behaviors and deficits you were programmed to believe or accept in life, God's love is ever constant to lead in developing our character, to guide our steps and direct our life according to "his" wise boundaries. Revelation 3:19-20, "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. (20) Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."
Situations and circumstances in life give us the opportunity to respond in either a positive or negative manner, learn from our reactions and grow from our experiences. In Luke chapter 8 we can read about the parable of the sower and the parable's meaning in verses 11-15, "The seed is the word of God. (12) Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. (13) Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. (14) The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. (15) But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop."
What seeds we plant with our choices (cause and effect reactions), determine what lessons we will continue to encounter in life. Even when we plant good seed we can develop weeds that choke out the living growth of God's light and love. Paul reminds believers; "For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone." We are responsible for our personal actions and for the influence of our actions upon others. The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception (Proverbs 14:8). When we plant seeds of obedience to God's word our harvest grows naturally like wild flowers in an open field, knowing it is God who makes things grow (1st Corinthians 3:7).
