And one of
the company said unto Him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the
inheritance with me. And He said unto
him, Man, who made Me a judge or a divider over you? And He said unto them, Take heed, and beware
of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things
which he possesseth. And He spake a
parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth
plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I
have no room where to bestow my fruits?
And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build
greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast
much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be
merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool,
this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things
be, which thou hast provided? Luke,
Chapter 12, verses 13-21.
Our belief
in God isn’t a “Once a Christian-Always a Christian Guarantee” that once you
have it, you always have it regardless of your actions. If it were, people could become a Christian,
go rob a bank and shoot someone because they need their next fix, not worrying
because they think they have Salvation regardless of their actions.
It’s like
planting a garden using seeds. That
gardener’s energy and enthusiasm are there after they have hoed the rows,
preparing them for the seeds to be planted.
He carefully plants the seeds and waters them regularly, just as a
person who starts a relationship with God has energy and enthusiasm for their
new-found faith.
If that
gardener were to go on vacation right after planting his garden and expected to
find fully grown plants when he returns, he would be greatly surprised! The garden would be overgrown and the
vegetables would be strangled by the weeds while the remnants of the garden
would still be there. This is similar to
what happens to the Christian who doesn’t tend to their faith regularly by
making it a DAILY part of their life.
That
Christian’s faith will wither away, strangled by the weeds of worldly living
while the remnants of that faith will still be there. Our faith needs constant cultivation and care
just as the garden does in order to grow and flourish.
Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.
