Still working through Luke 8 and I have been struck by the sense of tragedy around the parable of the sower (soils). It is tragic that the first seed is snatched away, but there is something more tragic about soil 2 where there is no root and they fall away. Yet the most tragic is the 3rd soil where there appears to be a response until the cares of life choke the seed and it does not mature.
How tragic to hear the gospel, to begin to recognise its value, but then to fail to reach maturity. In our society there is much that subtly seeks to smother the seed - be it family which Jesus words challenge a few verse later or our failure to allow the gospel to illuminate and expose our lives and living, or teh call to other priorities - career, money, sport, relationship...
For the 3rd seed there is no turning or rejection point just the subtle drift by a degree or two until it is too late and the gospel has become an irrelevance. Now that is a tragedy but one which I fear I am prone to and which is going on around us Sunday by Sunday. What is the answer? It is to keep preaching and spreading the word of God, it is to remind people that repentance is not a once in a life time experience but is ongoing, it is to remind people of God's grace that says you are forgiven all at an incredible price which your Saviour meets fully for you.
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