There is something that damages the image of Christianity in the world so much that it is worth questioning ourselves. My brother, my sister, being a Christian is not being a member of a church! When you approach someone (unbeliever or believer) in the street to spread the Good News, they always ask you these questions first: what is the name of your church? How many people are in your church? Where is your church located? Who is your pastor? WE ARE THE TEMPLE OF GOD! (1 Corinthians 3:16). You see, such questions reveal one thing: nowadays, people think being a Christian is going to church, and the bigger the church, the greater chance God is in that church. It is our duty as Christians to teach people that Christianity is about having an individual relationship with God after being reconciled with Him through Christ who died on the cross for us! The sad reality of such questions also reveal that many people have their names on church rolls, partake in the Lord’s Supper, are baptised, enjoy fellowship at church, enjoy the social benefits and trappings of religion, but they are not saved or have never been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. This sounds hard, but it is simple: the best example of an unregenerated soil is Judas Iscariot who was always with Jesus and experienced the great advantages of the Gospel but never was regenerated. Judas had all the evidence of a good Christian, and certainly some people saw him walking with Jesus and envied his position, but he obviously was never saved compared to Peter, who denied Jesus three times, but was renewed unto repentance as he experienced the work of the Holy Spirit in his heart.
Yes, in today’s verse, we learn that a true believer’s heart is regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and it is the quality of the soil of their heart that will reveal what the seed planted becomes. If your heart is a good soil it will have an abundant harvest of good fruit. It will bear Christ’s likeness. Therefore, the unregenerated “Christian” is like an unbeliever: none of them experiences the kind of change of heart that let’s the Holy Spirit work in us and through us, because they will go to church, hear the Gospel, but never apply it… at best, they would see the preaching they heard will apply to their someone else! And at the first hitch, they abandon faith or leave the church to seek a church that best suit their selfish needs. Such an attitude is certainly not of a person who is saved or has already been justified. Jesus did not get off the cross when He felt the pain caused by the weight of our sins, He remained for us to be saved!
My friend, when we are genuinely saved, we do not fall away fro the presence of God and we will grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ because Salvation is God’s work; it is not man’s work. God’s work cannot fail to achieve its intended purpose. God never fails to complete His project. Our salvation is His project and He will bring it to its completion at the day of Christ (Philippians 1:3-6). Now, many people believe to be saved and at some point of time, they abandon faith or start following men of God, deliverance or miracles instead of Christ who is our only way to God. Today let’s humble ourselves and examine our hearts and ensure our relationship with God is at the right stand and that the soil of our heart is receiving the seed according to God’s will, not picking and choosing what our ears want to hear or what soothes our present pain. Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.
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