10 May 2010
Psalm 80; Lev. 25:35-55; Col. 1:9-14; Matt. 13:1-16

What would it have looked like if a resident alien chose to become a Jew? They were to be a light to the nations, to show what it meant to be a people under God and a community of brothers to one another, coming, as they did, from one family. If resident aliens saw what God intended how could they not choose to become Jews and then what of their servitude? The questions get complicated but Israel was essentially the model community established by God and under His law. They were never to see each other as less than children of one Father and to treat one another accordingly. The parent was to ensure the family was not dysfunctional. We, the church, are to be that model community in our day. How are we doing with that?

The hardness of our hearts is amazing. This parable can be called the parable of the soils and in it I see in my life that the Lord not only sows the seed but has also been hard at work preparing the rocky ground of my heart to receive the seed in such a way that some harvest is garnered. The soil determines the yield and I know that He is always working to improve the ground of my heart and that much work remains to be done. We must recognize that reality and allow Him to do the work only He can do by the power of the Holy Spirit and to cooperate with Him by willingly giving Him the right to work and by working ourselves to maintain the ground he has reclaimed so that it not go back to its original state. Pray through the parable, asking God to show you: the birds that eat the seed that you might recognize them and drive them away as Abraham had to do when cutting the covenant, the rocks that make the ground hard and unreceptive to His Word, and the thorns which choke out the new growth of righteousness and joy in your life.

Paul tells the Colossians that he prays for them to be filled with spiritual gifts so that they may live skillfully and in keeping with the will of God. The gifts of wisdom and understanding are so that they may lead lives worthy of God, pleasing to Him and which will allow them to bear fruit. The gift of strength is that they may patiently await His coming and live lives of joyful thanks to Him who has redeemed them. This issue of redemption is clearly evident here and the principle refers back to the lesson from Leviticus where a near kinsman redeems his kin from slavery to resident aliens. Here we see Jesus redeeming us from sin and death and transferring us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. We once were slaves to sin and now we have been set free by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in the one righteous man who ever lived, Jesus.

Let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
Then we shall not turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call upon your name!
Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!
Let your face shine, that we may be saved!