Set alight

I’m sure we have all asked the age old questions, ‘Who am I?’ and ‘What am I here for?’ We all want to know what our purpose is. The Bible tells us that long before time began, there was a discussion between the three members of the Godhead regarding our ‘name’ and the ‘works’ or deeds that we should perform. Psa 139:1-18. The Scriptures often associate our individual identity as a son or daughter of God, with light. When King David ruled over the nation of Israel in the days of the Old Testament, he wrote concerning the Lord, ‘You light my lamp’. Psa 18:28. In the New Testament, Jesus told His disciples to shine as lights in a dark world, and we find that our distinctive glow is connected with our individual ‘good works’.
Matt 5:14-16.

So how are we set alight? We read in the Psalms that ‘light is sown like seed’, and I am immediately reminded of the parable of the sower in the Gospel of Mark. Here we read about a man who scattered seed on the ground and waited patiently for the fruit to appear and multiply up to thirty, sixty or one hundred-fold.

Psa 97:11, Mark 4:18-23. As we consider the different kinds of soil described in this story, we realise that they correspond to the various conditions of our hearts. Some seed fell on stony ground but the new growth withered when difficult circumstances arose and offences came.

Other seed fell among the weeds and were choked by the love of money and the worries of the world. And then we have the seed that was scattered on the side of the road, in the cynical hearts of those who like to stand apart and commentate on life without ever engaging in it. But thankfully, some seed was sown in good soil which had been ploughed by many trials and made soft. At different times in my life, my heart could easily be compared with each of these four soils. But it has always been my responsibility, as it is yours, to remove the stones and weeds and engage fully in all of life’s processes, so that the ground of my heart remains soft. It can then receive the water that comes by God’s word, and thereby sustain new growth.

The apostle Paul said that each person is God’s field and that others work in it on His behalf. 1 Cor 3:9. Light is sown like seed but the Scripture teaches that we are also required to sow. In the book of Hosea we read, ‘Sow with a view to righteousness’. Hos 10:12.

As we study the Scriptures, we find that our righteousness relates just as much to our individual ‘name’ and ‘work’ as it does to our right standing with God. Throughout our lives, we will experience many cycles of sowing and reaping. In Old Testament times, the people of God made offerings from the fruit of the ground at the beginning and end of the harvest. They used the seed from their offering at the end of one fruitful season, to sow toward the next one. As we continue to labour and make offering to God from the fruit of our field, our name and work will be revealed and we will be set alight.

Sue Falk

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July 2010

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