Text- Mark 4:16-17 “Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.”
Jesus told a parable to the crowd gathered around him, about a sower that scattered seed on four different kinds of ground – the way side, the stony ground, ground full of thorns, and then the good ground.
My interest today is on those seeds that fell on stony ground (or rocky places, as NIV puts it). Jesus explained that this typifies people who hear the Word and respond with great enthusiasm. The problem however is that they have no root, or their roots are weak, such that when difficulties arise, they fall away quickly.
You see, in life, every one of us will have our own fair share of trials, temptations, persecutions, and the likes. Those things are inevitable. However, when these things come, it is the strength of our root that will determine whether we will fall away or not.
In the day of trouble, excitement and zeal will not be enough to hang on to; only commitment will. You see, excitement and zeal can come from many different sources which can be shaken, but commitment usually comes from a conviction which cannot be shaken.
There are about four stages of progression in solidifying our commitments and building a strong root that cannot be shaken:
1. CREDULITY Credulity is the tendency to readily believe that something is real or true. This is where most people start out from, especially those who are brought up in Christian homes or in Church circles… They serve God because that’s how they were raised; they pray because their parents modelled a prayer life to them; they do things because that’s how it is done in their denomination.
Credulity is quite strong; in fact those who come from Muslim families mostly remain Muslims due to credulity (many of them can’t read and/or interpret Arabic, but they strongly believe what their parents and the Imams have taught them).
This is why Bible says in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it”. This is in recognition of the fact that credulity can last really long, so long as troubles and difficulties do not arise.
You see, while credulity is a very good foundation, it is a weak root! It is very good to start off from the point of Credulity, but if that is all there is to your Christian life; if that is the only basis for your zeal, passion and enthusiasm, it may not survive when you face troubles and persecutions, because there will be too many questions that you cannot answer.
PRAYERS
1. Lord, please help me to take roots deep in my walk with you, so that I will not fall away when troubles and persecutions arise.
2. Lord, help me to have that measure of conviction that cannot be easily shaken.
3. As I take roots downwards in Christ, I will bear fruits upwards in life in Jesus Name.
Image Credit: facebook.com