Have you ever felt stuck in your relationship with God? Do you want to grow in your faith but can't seem to figure out why you're not? Many times, the reason our spiritual growth stalls is because we can't clearly hear from God. We can't pick out His voice in the midst of all the noise around us. We can't discern His voice from our voice, or the voices of well-meaning friends and family.
The Bible says in Isaiah 30:21, “Your own ears will hear Him. Right behind you a voice will say, 'This is the way you should go,' whether to the right or to the left” (NLT).
In Luke 8, Jesus uses a parable about soil to teach us how to grow in our relationship with God. In the parable the farmer represents God, the seed represents God's Word, and the soil represents our life.
“A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it.” – Luke 8:5 NLT
In today's verse we learn about the first obstacle to spiritual growth: a closed mind. Jesus explains it this way in Luke 8:12: “The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved” (NLT).
A footpath, like the one Jesus describes in this parable, was likely made out of hard cobblestone, as was customary in those days. Jesus compares the imagery of a footpath to people who have made up their minds and are unwilling to listen to the truth of God's Word.
If you want to grow in your relationship with God, you must cultivate the right attitude. Keep your mind open to what God wants to say to you, even if it might be hard for you to hear.
You might be afraid God is going to ask you to do something you don't want to do. You may feel like you have things under control, and you don't need God's help. Or maybe you've been hurt in the past, and that hurt has hardened your heart toward God.
Whatever is holding you back, I want to encourage you to keep an open mind. Ask God to give you ears to hear His voice. Stay open, and keep the soil of your life loose and light so God can plant whatever He needs to plant there. God might not tell you what you want to hear, but He will always tell you what you need to hear.
Dig Deeper:
- In what areas of your life do you struggle with a closed mind or a hard heart?
- How can you begin to develop a more open mind to God's Word this week?
