Luke 8:19-21

Luke 8:19-21 Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”

Sometimes the most difficult part of living a Christian life is not hearing God's voice or knowing what to do that will please him, it is putting his Word into practice. We are often distracted and fall short of living out the Word and fulfilling the will of God. The above verses carry on the theme of the good seed and the lamp put on a lamp stand. Good seed sprouts and becomes a viable producer because it puts God's words, the living elements of life, into practice. Reproduction, multiplying, comes from the hand of God in the form of seed or light in a believer's heart. When put into a compliant heart, the seed multiplies or reveals light. It produces more of God's anointed or blessed creation. Bad soil or a lamp hidden produces nothing good, blesses no one. Jesus said in the above comment, the life that is pleasing to God is one that not only hears God's words but puts them into practice.

Many of us are dull of hearing. Yes, we know the Word, we know the right things to believe, but we are negligent in living out the word daily in our lives. Often we let our own spirits control our actions and reactions. How many of us truly love other things, other people, or ourselves more than God? In Matthew 10:37-38, we hear Jesus' words: Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. If anything is in the way of God and our walk with him, we are not worthy of him. These are difficult scriptures to face, for we are human, going around once in this world. How can we leave our natural affections and hold onto God more than what we see, hear, feel, and know? How do we overcome our fleshly inclinations?

Total commitment to God comes only with the help of the Holy Spirit. Any other enlightenment, inspiration, or self-motivation will fall short of God's plan. Our temporal insights or fresh starts will fail when we are troubled in spirit, when things aren't working out well, and we wonder why. Then we often begin to complain, for our flesh does not understand our circumstances, is not able to hear God clearly and to see his many blessings. In those troubling times, we truly know how much we need the Holy Spirit to show us who we are and who God is. Then we will desperately need to hear the Father's voice, calling us by name, saying, "Son, daughter, I am here, and I have a plan for your life." How else will we stand? How else will we be the good soil or the bright lamp? The Holy Spirit ensures that the soil remains good, producing much fruit. The Spirit is the oil that lets the lamp burn brightly, shining for all to see in the darkest of times. Who is in Jesus' family? Those who endure to the end; those who allow the Holy Spirit to activate their spirits regardless of life's circumstances. They are the good soil, the brightly lit lamp, and the sons and daughters of God. They are the ones who hear God’s word and put it into practice. This is our privilege and our joy to listen and to obey.