CHURCH SPRINT

“Where can I go to church?” Frank said. The tone of his voice shaped my response: “Right now?”

“I want to go right now,” he said. It was Saturday morning. I glanced at my watch. 10:49. I thought for a few moments and then suggested a church five minutes away which holds a Saturday service. “Let’s go Rosa,” he said to his daughter. Within two minutes they practically sprinted out the door.

Later in the day, my wife saw Frank. Church was enjoyable. The friendly folks invited him to stay for a potluck meal after the service. He was excited. And he even announced he was going to attend another church on Sunday.

Frank never made it to church on Sunday. He never went to church the next week. Or the next week…His church sprint had been sidetracked.

Jesus’ parable “The Sower” speaks of someone like Frank. “He who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy.” This seed can be thought of as a seed of the Word of God as it initializes a faith-life. Tiny, yet with the potential for huge growth. The parable continues: “Yet he has no root in himself, but endures only a little while.”

Jesus concludes the parable with a contrasting outcome: “But the seed that fell on the good ground are those people, who having heard the Word with a good and noble heart, keep it and bear fruit with endurance.”

Are you ready to press onward to a more Godly life? Jesus tells us how. Have a good and noble heart prepared to receive. Don’t let go of God’s Word—keep it. And endure, and endure. No sprinting. Then we are promised fruit. Our spiritual lives will grow to become a mighty force.