A Check-Up For Your Spiritual Life
Text Luke 8.1-13
Spiritual check-ups can be daily (bible reading and personal devotions). Weekly (small group and worship time with other Christians). Monthly (check to see if you have supported the local church with your finances). Then there are the annual E & C Checkups. (These are the people who come to church on Easter and Christmas to make sure the Christians are still there.) Check-ups and be expensive (you can gain the whole world and lose your soul), painful (the young man who came to Jesus went away sorrowful because he was so fond of his money), lifesaving (salvation) and they can change the direction of your life (if you repent).
Let me give you two short check-ups. The first is about your finances. There were women who were supporting Jesus ministry out of their financial resources. When you look at them you see that they all had personal contact with Jesus and his redeeming power. Like Mary Magdalene who was delivered from seven demons. They would all have passed a basic financial check-up. 1. God loves a cheerful giver. There women did not have to give the wanted to because of their personal experience with Jesus. 2. The T & H factor was correct. There treasure was an indication of where their heart was. 3. They understood what it meant to give and it will be given unto you. If you do not enjoy giving and supporting Christian causes (including the church) then you need to look at your heart because you will find that you are not a cheerful giver, your heart is not in ministry and you are missing the blessings God wants to share with you.
The second one deals with a check-up of your overall being. Jesus told a parable about planting seed in four different circumstances. Each one represents a condition that a person may find themselves in.
The first was the hard soil. Someone with this condition will not allow anything in, and are controlled by vicious birds that eat all the seeds. The 2 problems a person faces here are internal (veins overloaded and truth cannot get in) and external (the enemy is close at hand keeping anything positive out of the life of the person.) The answer is a rototiller. A person who is so hard to the truth of God may well find that God sends circumstances into their life to shake them up. Until the tough soil of our life is broken up we cannot receive the word of God.
The second was the rock soil. People who have this condition have lives that are overloaded (rocks) and have no time for God (lack of water). They often blame God for their problems when it is God who wants to help them with the rocks and excesses in their lives.
The third soil was filled with weeds. They allowed the plant to grow but not to produce any fruit. People with this condition often find themselves in church and they think everything is alright. They have what I call the three bear syndrome. Now you have to remember that Goldilocks broke into the bears home and found things too hard (papa's), too soft (mama's), or just right (baby bears). People surrounded by weeds have "LIFE'S WORRIES" (things are too hard), or they have "RICHES" (Things are too soft), or they are overcome by life's "PLEASURES" (everything is just right). Unless you are producing fruit for God you may well have weeds you have to deal with.
Finally there was the good soil, but the truth is that it was all good soil. There were problems that had to be dealt with. It needed to be rototilled, or rocks removed or weeds to deal with, but it was all good soil. What makes for good soil in the life a believer? Jesus said it was a four step process. Hear the word, that means you have dealt with the hard soil. Retain the word, that means you have gotten rid of the rocks so there is room for the word. Persevere, avoiding the three bears syndrome. If you do that you will produce a crop and have a healthy spiritual life.
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