Reflection: WARNING: ROCKY SOIL  

 If only warnings were that arresting…  

and paying attention were our first instinct. 

If only rocks were that obvious.  

If only there were no rocks!  

Curs-ed ground!  

Ever found yourself wishing, if only hearing and following Jesus were straightforward… But neither God’s word nor the testimony of his saints paints that picture.  

 People of all kinds are funnelling down to the lake. They’re tracking along rocky paths, through farmland, anxiously kicking up the dust. Mobbing, shoving, standing on tiptoe to hear the small-town teacher, this remarkable start-up. From a little fishing boat, he’s begun telling picture stories to the lake-side crowd. Simple stories with penetrating points…for those who had spiritual ears to hear. There’s this cryptic one about spiritual farming that stumps even his closest friends. It starts and ends with a warning: Pay attention. Listen! 

To those who hung around afterwards, to his befuddled disciples, he explains. Spiritual life and clarity are a gift only God can give. But even after receiving that joyful gift, people get careless. Satan has an arsenal of wily tactics to confuse, distract and discourage even the most well-meaning believer. (This is a damned-discouraging scenario, friends, and all too true.) 

But, continues Jesus, (maybe with outstretched hands to the fertile fields around them as they head home at golden hour) for those who flourish in faith, you can hardly imagine the glory! 

You’d think the writer of Hebrews was in that little band of believers that day. He picks right up from there. In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.* 

Prayer: 

I worship you merciful God, sovereign over the cosmos…and each individual heart. Thank you for unblinding me to the truth and abundance of salvation. Now my eyes are fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfector of faith.** Mature my faith and love. Keep me tenaciously trusting you to my life’s end. Water me daily with your Spirit. When I grow listless or inattentive, till the soil of my heart. When I’m battered or tormented grow my roots deeper. Give me courage to believe and to rest in your love. [Think of/list some people you know who are struggling in faith and repeat this prayer for them.] 

Footnotes 

*Hebrews 1:1-2; 2:1 

**Hebrews 12:2 paraphrased