For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, āThe jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day the Lord sends rain upon the earth.ā 1 Kings 17:14 ESV
Few men saw more miracles than Elijah. Fire falling from Heaven, people rising from the dead and parting the Jordan river with his cloak were just a few examples from his resume. But before the fire fell, Elijah spent over three years living in the tiny village of Zarephath. I am sure that to most people watching Elijahās life seemed pretty routine. But in the middle of that routine, God was working a miracle every morning. Because the fire from Heaven, only fell once, but the flour and oil miraculously multiplied every day! Waters part in our lives when new chapters begin, but only the simple turning of many pages will tell the story that God is writing in our lives. We need to guard our hearts against ingratitude for our daily bread. God gives us mercies every morning to forgive our sins and neighbors in need for opportunities to show His love. So, today, letās delight in how God stretches our jars of flour and jugs of oil to meet our needs and rest in His routine until a new chapter begins and He sends His rain upon the earth!
Prayer: Thank you Father, for the mercies you give and the daily bread you provide. We trust that you know how to begin and end the chapters of life and that you will keep us safely in the palm of your almighty hand!
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? Luke 1:34 KJV
Today, as we begin the second week of Lent, we need to remind ourselves that though the resurrection of Jesus was unexpected on our part it fit in perfectly with God’s plan. This morning, I want us to remember that the journey towards Easter, began in the humble village of Nazareth, with a young woman named Mary. She had just heard from an angel about Godās plans for her to have a child, though to her it just didnāt make any sense. How could that possibly be, since she was a virgin, and no virgin had ever given birth to a child? So, she asked a question that every believer in Jesus has asked ever since. āHow shall this be?ā “How will this be that an old broken-down man, a young homeless woman, a middle-aged inmate serving out His time for burglary, can be included in God’s grace. The surprising answer that Mary received 2,000 years ago, is the same good news that He has for each one of us today. Godās part is to work out His plans. Our part is only to believe. As we journey on towards Easter, God wants us to begin just as Mary did: not with a full understanding, but with a trusting step of faith.
And Mary said, āBehold, I am the servantĀ of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.ā AndĀ the angel departed from her. Luke 1:38 KJV
As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word andĀ understands it. He indeedĀ bears fruit and yields, in one caseĀ a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.ā Matthew 13:23 ESV
Too many times, we read about the Parable of the Sower and come to the conclusion that it is about becoming a Christian. Now, Jesus certainly does intend for us to include the time when a person first hears the gospel as one part of His story, but we need to remember that our relationship with Christ is more than a onetime experience. Being a Christian is becoming a garden where God comes to plant new seed every day. Sometimes our hearts are so hard, that we open the Bible, hear a nice sermon on the car radio or maybe even visit with someone on staff from our church, but our heart is elsewhere. We already have our day planned. No one, including God is going to alter our schedule, because we already know what is best. On the other hand, maybe we turn on Christian radio station and smile, tap our feet to the music and begin our drive to work with a cheerful “Christian” attitude. But somewhere along the way we get cut off in traffic, a construction zone blocks the road to our job, or we run into a snow squall along the way. Our smile disappears, we flick off the radio and that joyful feeling evaporates. Some days we may even dodge both of those obstacles and still are staying on track but there has also been something besides God’s word that has taken root in our heart. We may be harboring a secret sin, a longing for something outside of God’s plan for us. This is more than just an unexpected distraction, rather this is a desire for sin that we have hidden from everyone, including ourselves. This kind of problem may stay hidden for days, weeks or even years, but when we allow it to grow in God’s garden, it puts down deeper and deeper roots, until it chokes out God’s word and His plan for our lives. By this time the Christian life may seem hopeless, and we wonder where the excitement and joy of serving God has gone, but the good news is that there is still hope because every day Jesus goes out again to plant. This is a new day, and our Christian life is not just about our efforts, or getting goals accomplished, it is Christ in you and me. Just as a garden is not just about digging up the soil, weeding and taking out the stones. A garden is nothing until someone plants a seed and Jesus is planting a seed that contains the life of heaven in us again this morning. If we will only allow the gentle rainfall of His Spirit to soften our heart, invite His strong hands to dig out the stones of shallowness and pull out the weeds of sin, then that seed will grow again as God intended. We may not see the harvest this afternoon, but with quiet trust and patience one day it will yield the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience,Ā kindness, goodness, faithfulness,Ā gentleness,Ā self-control:Ā (Galatians 5:22-23). So don’t give up hope, but instead let’s ask ourselves, “What is my life producing today, and Is Christ alive and growing in my heart?”
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