"He isn't far from any of us"

"Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock.

This seed began to grow, but soon it withered and died for lack of moisture."

Luke 8:6 (NLT)

It is always interesting, that God always gets shuffled off to the dust corners until disaster happens, then people start scurrying around crying "Oh God, Oh God!" Japan's recent earthquake, the subsequent Tsunami and the Chicken Littles that go around with that show us that God gets shuffled off into the spare minutes and he is short changed with our time. The faster life goes, the more God gets missed! Out attitudes become, “Lord, speak to me but do it quickly.” Skimping on our time with God leads to a life that becomes more and more shallow. We don’t spend enough time alone with God, if at all

It is this lifestyle, where we’re always in a hurry, that represents the shallow or rocky soil in Jesus’ parable of the Sower (Mt.13). It is like living in an area that has a thin layer of topsoil over a bedrock of limestone. The soil isn’t very deep. Jesus states, "Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away (Mt.13:5,6)." The plants died out because the roots could not go deep enough to get to the moisture they needed in order to survive.

The Lord then interprets this parable for us. He tells us that this shallow soil represents a superficial mind. "As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away (Mt.13:20,21)." This person kind of listens to God’s Word, and maybe gets emotionally moved at times, but she/he never really does anything about it. They might come to church occasionally, enough to even "feel religious." Yet, there still isn't any showing of life change because they didn’t let the message sink in. Tragically, it is then only when something disastrous happens, that they remember God, and often too late.

How do you get past this? How do you change from being a shallow person to a person who knows God even in the depths of recession, illness, job loss marital trouble or tragedy?

You need two things:

1. You need time alone with God, the Bible, prayer and it might even help to keep a written journal of the things you learn.
2. You need time with other believers who are close to you and can give you a fresh perspective. Now, on this point let's stop to consider something. Meeting regularly with other believers during the week and at church is MY responsibility. Yes, they are to encourage me, but that encouragement comes from both of us rowing together (Heb.10:24; Eph.4:16), not from everyone else trying to pull me along as a boat anchor! They can give me the encouragement and accountability, but it is up to me to go deeper in my relationship with God.

Don't wait for a disaster to happen to begin looking for God. Paul reminded the people of his day, "From one person God made all nations who live on earth, and he decided when and where every nation would be. God has done all this, so that we will look for him and reach out and find him. He isn't far from any of us, and he gives us the power to live, to move, and to be who we are...(Acts 17:26-28)."

Jim