Luke 7 NLT

Chapter seven begins with a Roman officer whose slave becomes extremely ill. The officer heard the miracles that Jesus has done for many and immediately sent Jewish elders to ask for healing for his slave. When Jesus was close to the officer’s house, the officer sent friends of his to tell Jesus to just heal the slave from where He stands because the officer felt he was not worthy to meet Jesus. The shocking part of the story is Jesus’ response to the message from the officer: “When Jesus heard this, He was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following Him, He said, ‘I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!’” (Verse 9). This parable has an important message for all of us: that even when we feel we are not worthy of meeting with Jesus…We are viewed as worthy in His eyes! Jesus loves us all unconditionally no matter how far we may be, or think we are from Him. The reason Jesus viewed the officer’s faith as strong is because even though he did not feel worthy, he went to Jesus anyways. Sometimes when we feel unworthy of Jesus’ love, we tend to become distant with Him because of that fear of Jesus not forgiving us, or accepting us. We need to do what the officer did and always remember that no matter how unworthy we may feel, or how far we may be, Jesus still loves us and wants to hear from us.

Luke 8 NLT

Chapter eight includes one of my favorite parables that Jesus has told in the Bible. It is called: “Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed”. The parable starts off with a farmer planting seeds in numerous places across his field. Some fell on the footpath where it had no chance of growing because of the birds that ate it, and being stepped on. Some landed amongst the rocks where it was unable to grow because of the lack of moisture. Some fell in thorns that grew with the seed, but ended up killing the growing seed because of how crowded the environment became. Lastly, some landed on fertile soil where the seed grew and produced a multitude of crops. Jesus compares the seed to God’s word. “‘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. The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation. The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. And the seed that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest’” (Verses 12-15). As believers, let us make it our goal to plant our seeds in good soil so we can be filled with God’s word, love, and promises.

Amen.