To those that have ears

Spring is an amazing time here at Selah; that is what I call the 5-acres that we live on.   "Selah , a technical musical term probablx showing accentuation, pause, interruption"* This is life here; one of our many resident does had her fawn this week and she is keeping the little spotted one protected.  

Last year's set of twins

She is always close by, but during the day the fawn is told to stay and be quiet; concealed in the tall grass and clover and shaded by the tall fir trees.  The mother doe chases other deer away and lays in the open where she has view of the life she has carried for 5-months.  To protect the young fawn, she must draw attention to herself and hope to lure any predator away knowing her speed is her defense.  

About half of the property was worked to remove noxious weeds and was planted with five kinds of clovers, some alfalfa and several grass species last fall.  Now the crimson clover is finishing its bloom, some of the wild flowers are showing color and the field is alive with flora and fauna.  


Like the field, my life has been through some cultivation to bring it to the place it is and even still, like the field, it requires spot treatments to take out the noxious things in my life.  When I was young my faith was my own, but it was guided by my parents' example and the listening and reading of the Bible.  There is no one that can argue with me that my experience is as the children's song lyric "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so"; you can't convince me it isn't real and true.... for me.


Life has had its time to have weeds in it; I'm not proud of those weeds or those times, but they are part of me as are the times that I've been plowed, ground, leveled, ripped, turned, and other preparation.  Like the field, my life was being prepared for the harvest.  Even so, a field that is all prepared and not carefully planted will turn to weeds and revert to chaos quickly.  My life's field was carefully tended by my own submission and a Master Gardener that knew just what needed to be seeded into my life.


So as my example, I look at Jesus Christ and realize that He taught many and His message was clear; to those that have ears, let him hear.  Jesus taught the people the way they understood; most were familiar with the farming life and communicated in stories like this one:
"Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil.  And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.  Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.  Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."  And He [Jesus] was saying, " He who has ears to hear,let him hear." Mark 4:3-9 NASU [  ] emphasis mine

One seed dies, is raised up into a plant and produces 30, 60, and 100 times itself.  In other words, by our self we are a single grain seed, but placed in the right hands and planted, nurtured and harvested, our life can bring life to a great increase.  Most of us want our lives to count for something.


I have a friend who wants to be remembered when he is gone so his thought was to have his name on a building.  I must admit that is a cool thing and is bigger than a tombstone, but as I've watched the local university change the names of the coliseum, the stadium. the library, on and on, it matters who has given money to maintain the building or step up to the plate; in other words, it is about your family paying to keep the family name remembered.  It isn't about what you did, but what you do with your money. WOW, what a saddle to burden your family with.


For me, it is about people.  Not everyone that Jesus taught came to a saving faith in Him and His Kingdom.  They had ears, but if they heard, they did not submit and yield their life to Him.  Those that did and those that do, continue to change the world.  So, I follow, submitted, knowing that what I do is important because of this logical directive by the Apostle Paul:  "for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."    How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"" Romans 10:13-15 NIV


So from Selah and to all the earth, this is the legacy that I continue to touch lives.  My words are only to share that I have experienced life in Christ and it has made all the difference in the world... I have hope; I'm far from perfect; I am loved and there is so much more.
"'Thus says the Lord GOD.' He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house."  Ezekiel 3:27 NASU

Take some time today and experience your own Selah, pause, and chew on words of freedom that will set you free from the burdens that weigh you down. 



*(from The Online Bible Thayer's Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, Copyright © 1993, Woodside Bible Fellowship, Ontario, Canada. Licensed from the Institute for Creation Research.)