D A V I D   C L U R E

Picking up the Bible, finding the book of Matthew, and thumbing over to chapter thirteen, you will notice that the chapter break kind of interrupts the action, kind of like a commercial break does in a good movie you've managed to immerse yourself into.  Because, If you take a moment and read the previous chapter, you realize, that basically...Jesus is smack dab in the middle of a swirling hurricane of controversy about who He is.  Jesus is purposely moving though the day, while everyone else seems to be wandering. Jesus Christ was, and remains the one who exudes and personifies bullet-proof confidence. But its not a self-centered confidence.  No.  No, Jesus knows His destiny, and His purpose, and people notice that about Him. In the final few verses of  chapter 12 of Matthew's Account, Jesus distills all of life down...to its essential essence, and you'll hear Him now...listen:

"Look, your mom and brothers are standing outside this house we're in, and they desire to talk to you, Jesus."
Jesus answered, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"  It wasn't an academic question. Jesus reached out his hand and made a sweep of the room to include those listening to Him. " See?  My mother and my brothers."   Why would Jesus say that?  He tells us why.  "Because any person who does the will of my Father Who is in Heaven [God], THAT same person IS my brother, sister and mother." 

Wow.  He leaves NO doubt about His destiny. It is to do God's will.  To please God, to whom He belonged.  Jesus was not a drifter.  He was a doer. He knew why He was on Earth, and nothing could distract Him. Not even his own family.  Not His mother, as much as He loved her, or his brothers and sisters. And He demonstrated by His words and actions, everyday, the common destiny we ALL are supposed to be fulfilling. And this is where we find Him as we enter chapter 13 of Matthew's God-inspired account.

That same day, Jesus went out of thay house,  and sat down on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. [Matthew 13:1]. 

Well, notice how quickly people noticed He had just exited the house? Some people think it was Peter's house- I don't know about that.
There was standing room only. And the people remained standing as he got into a boat and pushed a little away from shore. He was seated facing this huge crowd of people standing on the shore!  Remember the context - the events that had led up to this. The hurricane of controversy swirling around Him. The whispering, the curiosity, the anger, the hatred, the mother and the brothers. The God who had created the Heavens and the Earth..even this sea, and all those people now standing and observing Him, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, Moses, and all the Prophets had instructed His Son to address these people now, at this place, with the words He was about to speak.  These words were destined to be written down and spread over the entire planet of Earth...these words were meant for you to hear... in fact, for each and every human being upon this planet. 

Jesus was about to reveal the secret of HOW TO CHOOSE TO LOVE.  The following words were uttered in order to teach you, and me, how to stop senseless drifting, and how to live life with the meaning and purpose that our Creator has always desired.  As I explained in my poem "Sowing" and the last message I shared, the focus in the parable of the sower...is NOT on the Sower.  Not even on the message. No, the focus is upon the condition of the listener's HEART.  That is SO important to grasp.  For many years this parable mistified me. I read more Bible Commentaries than I can remember, but mostly they were conjectures and guesses by well-meaning scholars.  Now I'm not putting down scholarship, but some of it is rubbish.  But when you ask the Lord, in prayer, for understanding...HE WILL open your comprehension up, in a way no human, or personal struggling can.  Apart from God's Holy Spirit, this guy cannot get what God means. But when we humble ourselves before Him, He is glad to open our eyes...like He did that day, for His disciples.

This first parable, is Jesus' HOW-TO on how to love by choice. Not accidently. Not hit and miss. Not a love that quickly fades whether by neglect, or because of tough times, or because of distractions, but by deliberate CHOICE.  As I said in one of my early poems, "True Love" [ pg. 10 of my book "Norwood Night And Other Poems" ] 

...."It was no aimless, rushing feeling which made Him choose the cross, where I deserve to be."

No.  God-like love, is not something you fall into and out of.  No. It is durable.  It lasts through thick and thin, and it is a delberate choice, that God supernaturally enables to grow stronger and to spread more and more wider.  In this Parable of the Sower, which Jesus is about to speak, is an outline of all those things which attempt to eat away, scare away, and distract away from our Creator and His human creation. 
 There is much to learn from this Heaven-sent Gem.  I am intent on learning and putting into practice in my own life. 

If you get only one thing out of this article, I hope it is that God has a definite purpose for YOUR life.  It's not a ink-blot that is hit or miss. It's not a cloud you can see what you want into it.  And that the Lord's instruction is as close to you as your Bible, in Matthew chapter 13.  Ask the Lord Jesus Christ for a eureka moment. Take a moment to read that chapter, and let it saturate your mind, and thoughts throughout the day.  And maybe you'll join me back here as we ponder together, this How To Choose Love.  God knows we all need more of God's Love in our world.  

-David Clure   
 with profoundest respect and Christ's Love.