Soaking In The Rain

Hebrews 6:7-8
Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

So, which land are you? Seems a little silly doesn’t it, to be asking such a question, but the question is quite valid.

Are you the "land" that is soaking in the rain? Are you soaking in the Word of God, and letting it produce "crops" worthy of the blessing of God? 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 tells us:
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
Scary? Yeah, it can be, I suppose. But, if we have the important part - a foundation of Christ - it’s time to move on and look at what we are building on that foundation, what kind of crops we are producing.

We need to be a people that soak up the "rain" that God sends us, learning what He teaches, and putting what we learn to use - allowing our lives to produce good crops. Our lives should reflect that which God is pouring into us. Thorns and thistles on the other hand, represent sin in our lives, and not just the nasty, ugly sins, but we must remember that "everything that does not come from faith is sin." (Romans 14:23b) Yikes!

God wants us walking lives of faith, from the moment we wake to the moment our heads hit the pillow. Difficult? Yep! But the only way that our lives can produce "crops" worthy of the blessings of God is to walk by faith. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." (Hebrews 11:6) The only way that we can build on our foundation anything of worth, the only way that we can produce useful crops, is to walk by faith.

How do we build our faith? "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17) We need to be in the Word, allowing it to build our faith. We need to take in all that God is pouring out into our lives, and, by faith, let it produce in us all that is glorious and good and from God! Then, on that day when God judges our deeds (not as unto salvation - the foundation of Christ takes care of that), He will find gold and silver and costly stones built upon His foundation in our lives. He will find useful crops, rather than thorns and thistles that need to be burned and destroyed. And we will have all that was produced to lay at His feet, worshiping Him for all that He produced in us.