Attitude is everything in life. As I look around me I see people that simply don’t want to grow (they usually feel they have it all already figured out), people who say they want to grow but who won’t put the effort into it, people who allow everything around them to keep them from growing and people who have the right attitudes, attitudes of not only wanting to grow, but of the willingness to learn and “DO”. These people grow and find fulfillment in their lives.
Mark 4:20
Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop–some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”
You know, the Gospel message hasn’t changed over thousands of years. The message of God loving us, so much that He gave his Son, Jesus, to die for our sins so that we might live this new life in the kingdom of heaven, indeed, the kingdom of God hasn’t changed on bit.
Jesus has been talking about the hearts of people and their attitudes toward the message of truth. People respond differently to the message, but the message has never changed. The four soils (rocky soil, soil on the hardened path, soil among thorns and the good fertile soil) represent different ways that people respond to the greatest message you could ever receive…the message of the Good News!
As we continue to look at how attitudes are everything in life, I find it interesting that while Jesus is talking about four different kinds of hearts/attitudes and each person’s readiness to receive the Gospel, His words could also be applied in other ways.
He could be talking about different times or phases in our lives or He could be talking about how we willingly receive God’s message in some areas of our lives and how we resist the message in others.
Do you respond like the good soil to the message of Jesus as it applies to worshiping God, but are you like the rocky soil as the message applies to helping others?
Do you respond like the good soil in regards to future hope but like the soil on the hardened path in regards to how you treat finances in your life?
Do you respond like the good soil in regards to your giving and finances but like the rocky soil in regards to how you treat others?
Attitude is everything. Jesus spoke FIRST of the eight attitudes of our hearts in His greatest message, the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew chapter 5. Attitude serves as the basis and the beginning point of our being.
Strive to be like the good soil in all areas of your life….it’s a journey to get to the destination….and it’s indeed an adventure. A true follower of Jesus not only believes, but allows Him to make a difference in their lives.
Isn’t it about time for the seed to be planted in good fertile soil in your life where it can grow strong and bear the fruit of fulfillment and joy?
~~By Jan Puterbaugh, associate pastor
