Day 1 - Enjoy the Silence.

Luke 8:4-15 ---

The Story of the Seeds

^4-8As they went from town to town, a lot of people joined in and traveled along. He addressed them, using this story: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. Some of it fell on the road; it was tramped down and the birds ate it. Other seed fell in the gravel; it sprouted, but withered because it didn't have good roots. Other seed fell in the weeds; the weeds grew with it and strangled it. Other seed fell in rich earth and produced a bumper crop.

"Are you listening to this? Really listening?"

⁹His disciples asked, "Why did you tell this story?"

¹⁰He said, "You've been given insight into God's kingdom—you know how it works. There are others who need stories. But even with stories some of them aren't going to get it:

Their eyes are open but don't see a thing,
Their ears are open but don't hear a thing.

^11-12"This story is about some of those people. The seed is the Word of God. The seeds on the road are those who hear the Word, but no sooner do they hear it than the Devil snatches it from them so they won't believe and be saved.

¹³"The seeds in the gravel are those who hear with enthusiasm, but the enthusiasm doesn't go very deep. It's only another fad, and the moment there's trouble it's gone.

¹⁴"And the seed that fell in the weeds—well, these are the ones who hear, but then the seed is crowded out and nothing comes of it as they go about their lives worrying about tomorrow, making money, and having fun.

¹⁵"But the seed in the good earth—these are the good-hearts who seize the Word and hold on no matter what, sticking with it until there's a harvest.

Hey Kiddos!

Well, today is say one of Enjoying the silence. The scripture above is part of the devotion that was in the book today, and I want you guys to do this with me. Obviously, I am not going to write the entire book on this blog, that's plagiarism (a no-no), but I will share bits and pieces of what I got out of it, and what I think you can do to get something out of it as well. So here we go.

Read it, drink up. What do think when you read that. Really read it, don't just rush through. If God sat down next to you right now, and spoke with a big booming voice, directly to you, would you ask Him to kindly hurry up so you could go watch the finale of some TV show? I didn't think so. Take the time. Read it. The first time through, read and listen, what is being said? Think about it. ---- Read it again. This time, imagine it, put it into pictures into your head. Visualize what is being said. ---- Now this last time, listen with your heart, what is your heart drawing you to, what is sticking out to you. Pause after every major thought, take the time to let the thought mature. Read. ---

I found that this made me examine my heart, how I accept the word into my heart, what type of soil is my heart like? Which situation describes where I'm at? Close your eyes, imagine what your heart is like, what does it look like in this story? Journal it. Now, picture this, and I LOVE THIS, the farmers hand is working on his soil (your heart) so that the seed will blossom the way it needs to, what is the farmer doing? Watering? Weeding?

I journaled as I read this, which is something I encourage you to do, for one, it helps you collect your thoughts more clearly, and in the future you may wish to re-call what you found out. I'm going to fill you in on what I wrote. I said my heart needs more moisture, it needs to be watered. Perhaps the soil is stale, getting old, and needs water before it dries up.

What do you see...

I hope this helps.

-Colton.