HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div
“ Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:” (Matthew 13:5).
Shallow! It would seem from the teaching of this parable that we have something to do with the soil. The fruitful seed fell into “good and honest hearts.” I suppose the shallow people are the soil without much earth, those who have no real purpose, are moved by a tender appeal, a good sermon, a pathetic melody, and at first it looks as if they would amount to something; but not much earth, no depth, no deep, honest purpose, no earnest desire to know duty in order to do it. Let us look after the soil of our hearts.
Many look around and see the confusion in the church and rather than seeking God for the direction they jumped right in without a purpose for their decision.
When a Roman soldier was told by his guide that if he insisted on taking a certain journey it would probably be fatal, he answered, “It is necessary for me to go; it is not necessary for me to live.”
This was depth. When we are convicted, something like that we shall come to something. The shallow nature lives in its impulses, its impressions, its intuitions, its instincts, and very largely its surroundings. The profound character looks beyond all these, and moves steadily on, sailing past all storms and clouds into the clear sunshine which is always on the other side, and waiting for the afterwards which always brings the reversion of sorrow, seeming defeat and failure.
When God has deepened us, then He can give us His deeper truths, His profoundest secrets, and His mightier trusts. Lord, lead me into the depths of Thy life and save me from a shallow experience!
On to broader fields of holy vision; On to loftier heights of faith and love; Onward, upward, apprehending wholly, All for which He calls thee from above.
I pray this morning that the task we set out to do or accomplish will be those required of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We are no longer newborn babes that desire the sincere milk of the word. We are to be into the deeper mysteries of the word focusing on the return of the Lord, His second coming rather than jumping and going nowhere, fighting for titles and not able to read directions far less reading the Bible and seeking understanding.
