“Maintenance!”

Me-Maw Thoughts

Number 576

April 26, 2022///

I want to call your attention today to the yards and properties we see or have.

Some are cut and maintained consistently. In addition to that some have beautiful flowers trees and plants. Some have trees with amazing blooms, and all are a testimony to the amazing resources God has given us to take care of and enjoy.

Then there are the yards and properties that are so overgrown with weeds, and underbrush, etc. the houses and buildings cannot even be seen!

Some of these are abandon but others are just neglected!

Let us look at the third kind of ground Jesus taught about in Luke 8:14!

Luke 8:14 (KJV)
And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

The setting here is that the word needs to find good ground to flourish and grow. This description of the third ground, actually shows those who receive the word and go forth to walk it out and live it but get caught up in the snare of worry, making money, having fun, until the weeds and wild bushes have grown up and the good that the person intended is choked out with the living of life!

The amplified shows Luke 8:14 this way:

Luke 8:14 (AMP)
And as for what fell among the thorns, these are [the people] who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked and suffocated with the anxieties and cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not ripen (come to maturity and perfection).

The fruit referred to is the Love and example of Jesus that He will produce in us as we commit all to Him and meditate or think on His truths that are found in the word!

The houses on the properties I mention were built on grounds that were no doubt green and attractive at the beginning. The grounds were an awesome setting for the house and the family it represented and the beauty of architecture and workmanship it displayed!

Perhaps at the beginning the owners worked diligently to maintain the beauty that would lift others as they looked at it and would encourage them to work on their own houses and properties.

There are many today who walked with the Lord Jesus in passion for showing the world a better way and encouraging others.

But over time busy lives, concerns, situations, hurts, confusions and all manner of things and attitudes begin to choke out the word and although this person may feel like they still love Jesus they are showing no fruit or attractiveness to the Gospels better way. They are showing weeds and thorns and a life of surviving rather than thriving!

We must maintain our relationship with Jesus Christ by allowing the word to grow deep roots in our spirit!

We do this by taking the time daily to release our day and all we need to accomplish, our thoughts and our needs to the Lordship of Jesus. Casting all our cares on Him!

The enemy, satan, is out to distract us from the good that we are created to do!

May I tell you that riches will not satisfy. May I tell you the pleasure will not last for very long. And the fact is that worry never helps anything. It only makes you weak and weary!

The good life, the life that brings lasting joy, peace, and contentment, is found only in a life surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. A heart that understands how to love because it has received the unending, matchless, love of God the Father through the Lord Jesus!

We must, however, be on guard! No matter how much we Love Jesus and want to serve Him, if we do not maintain our relationship and walk with Him, through prayer, the word, and fellowship with other believers, we will begin to drift, to worry and to be fruitless because the good has been choked out!

Our lives are to be examples of Jesus and that is how we make a difference!

Do not let anything choke the word so that it is not effective in our lives!

_______________________________

Father, in Jesus’ name I come! Help each of us to be aware of all the things that tempt us to worry, fret, and be to busy to maintain a close relationship with you through Jesus. Help the maintenance of our spiritual life be the number one priority of our days! Busy does not always mean fruitful! Give us wisdom in every decision and may our priorities line up with your word! Amen!

Love, MeMaw