My iPhone is so cool.
I can set it to make special rings for me when I get new text messages. And for a guy who just got or sent near 3000 last month, this is fun.
Currently, my text alert is the sound that the lovable robot R2D2 makes in the movie Star Wars when he is getting shot by lazer beams... "Weeeooooow!" (I guess that's how you spell that robot noise.)
Shockingly, a text alert noise is a daily part of life for many... for some of you, this makes zero sense as you get like three per year. Like I said, I get and send 3000 per month.
I'm not sure some of you could care less.
Let's shift to something deeper.
I wonder: what if God decided He was tired of how we miss the opportunities that He gives us every day... the opportunities to embrace a deeper life with Him?
What if He was tired of "scattering seed" that hits us in the head, bounces to the ground, never takes root in our hearts... and worse yet, we simply never see? What if He was tired of us missing so many chances to get closer to Him, or He was tired of us whining, thinking we never have any?
I think it would be great if God could just treat me like the village idiot and give me a special Seed Alert Tone that goes off loudly in my 15 foot perimeter.... that would ring so everyone could hear every time one of His seeds either took root in my life, or bounced off of me.
A pleasant "DING!" when He casts a seed of life and it takes root.
An annoying "BUZZ!" when I miss a seed... when it is bouncing off my head, heart and life.
I'd be racking up way more alerts than 3000 per month. I believe this. Because I believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not static.
It is growing.
Remember when Jesus said, "the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few"? I believe He meant it. This means that no matter how many churches there are, there will always be room for more.
This means that no matter how much you know, or how long you've been walking with God, you've got room for more of Him.
This means that no matter how little you know about God, how little you've been walking with Him, it is still possible and easy to get swept up into His amazing and beautiful story for you.
I would imagine if God would paint a picture that represents one singular day of you walking through your life, that image would contain dozens of opportunities, both seen and unseen, that were standing right before you. Opportunities for you to embrace a deeper and greater life with Him... a chance to live out Jesus in the world around you.
The picture on the top left of this blog shows the amount of life that is contained in a single scoop of ocean floor. Pick the most remote and dark looking place at the bottom of the ocean. Pull out your ice cream scoop. Take a sample and sift through it and this is what you'll find.
God is growing life even there. Imagine then spiritually, how much life He is growing and offering in and around you and I all the time.
"All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth."
It's true. All around us, God is doing more growing and creating and forming and seed-scattering than we can possibly imagine. Kingdom life is everywhere around us, waiting to be embraced.
So today, may you see the life. May you see and embrace the seed.
May you and I see that God is scattering all over the place, giving us a million chances to lean into Him, to choose Him... to embrace what is better. The gospel is about so much more than fire insurance... it is about bringing life to places where there is none.
He is giving us a myriad of opportunities to live out Jesus in our own lives, and in the lives of others. To offer more life than what we'd find in a scoop of ocean floor.
Sometimes we'll miss it, and thankfully there are no buzzers.
Sometimes we'll embrace it... and let me tell you Heaven rejoices.
That is so much cooler than my iPhone.
Image used by permission: Craig McClain/Deep Sea News
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