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.
Hebrews 6:7,8
Every place has its own weather patterns. Growing up in Baltimore, our weather mostly came from the west. But every once in a while, something we called a nor’easter would come up the coast from the south. It brought lots of wind plus rain or snow depending on the time of the year.
When we lived in Connecticut, everything came from the west. Also, the weather was really different between where we lived and where I worked. One day, I got this call from Mary Ann, wondering when I was coming home. There was this blizzard going on where we lived, but it was only raining at work. By the time I got out of work, it took me hours to carefully slide my way back home.
But Arizona weather was really different. First of all, rain was really rare. When you saw one of these “monsoon” storms up in the mountains, you knew that lots of rain was headed your way. And when it came, streets were going to flood because the rocky ground couldn’t absorb any.
The writer to the Hebrews is reminding them that rain is a gift from God. When the rain comes down, it doesn’t only fall on land owned and farmed by his people. Rain is one of God’s blessings that falls on both the righteous and the unrighteous[1]. He shows and showers his lovingkindness on everyone.
And while getting rain is nice, there’s something so much more important than receiving enough moisture. God left his eternal throne so that he could come to earth, not just to show off, but to show us who he is. God unloaded his lovingkindness for us through Jesus.
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
1 John 2:1,2
Notice that Jesus’ sacrifice wasn’t just for holy people, Or just for a certain kind of people from one special family. No, his sacrifice was made for all the sins of the whole world. No one was left out. It’s available for everyone.
And while Jesus’ death paid for all sins, not everyone’s accepting it. It’s right there in front of us, and yet there are people who turn their head and walk away. Instead of receiving God’s free gift of salvation[2], they try and get there all on their own. They’d rather depend on themselves instead of God.
That’s the difference between the ground producing good food and thorns. The ground’s the same. It gets the same amount of sunlight. The same amount of rain. The same wind and weather. And yet, different seeds sprout and grow different plants. Each of these plants has different “fruit.”
Useful crop. What makes one crop useful? The grain or fruit that it grows gives strength and nourishment to everyone that receives it. The farmer can feed their family and sell it as a cash crop to buy other good and useful things. The useful crop gives back to everyone.
Useless crop. The useless crop is full of thorns and thistles. First of all, they hurt anyone that get’s near. They only take things; they give nothing back in return. Their “fruit” is less than useless. It takes up space and all the good resources that could be used to bless others.
We’re just like this story. God has given us good soil to grow in. He hasn’t just given us rain, but a kind of rain that keeps coming. A rain that doesn’t let us drown. A rain that doesn’t let us dry up either. God’s rain is just enough, and consistent enough, so that we never lack water[3].
So, it’s time that we take a look in the mirror to see exactly what we’re growing. Are we producing good grain and fruit to feed and nourish the people around us? Or are we producing thorns and thistles that only suck up resources and then hurt the people around us? Are we a blessing and encouragement? Or someone who people want to turn away from because of all the anger and hurt in their life?
Like the Hebrews, we’ve been given oh so very much by God. We’ve seen how Jesus died for all our sins. Now, will we gratefully receive his cleansing shower of full forgiveness and allow him to make us new? Or are we going to rain bitterness and pain on everyone’s life? God’s done everything to bring us back to himself. The only question is how are we going to respond? For him or against him?
Noodling Questions
How is the rain where you live different than rain someplace else?
Does your life look like a useful or useless crop? Explain.
Explain how receiving full forgiveness from God should change everything.
[1] Matthew 5:45
[2] Ephesians 2:8
[3] Psalm 1:3
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