Study: Get Understanding

"Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have, get understanding."

- Proverbs 4:7

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Of all of Jesus' parables, The Parable of the Sower stands out as fundamental to understanding life in God's kingdom.  It works for understanding many different aspects of kingdom life, including evangelism, salvation, and spiritual growth.  These next few weeks, we are looking at how to be transformed into who God calls us to be.  In the parable, the sower spreads seed all over, but in only one area - the good soil - does the seed grow and mature enough to bear fruit.

It's easy to get the wrong impression on spiritual disciplines, that we are teaching that if you work hard enough, you will grow yourself spiritually.  But really what you are doing is preparing the "soil" of your heart to receive the grace of God so that it takes root in you and the Holy Spirit is able to freely do His work in you.




To take it back to the parable of the sower, the good soil took the seed (God's Word) in deeply and allowed it to grow unhindered.  So the good soil is defined by what it had (depth) and what it did not have (thorns and weeds).  This is similar to Dallas Willard's division of spiritual disciplines into "disciplines of engagement" (things you put into your life in order to learn to obey God's commands to go and do) and "disciplines of abstinence" (things you remove from your life in order to learn to say "no" to sin).  Here is a list of spiritual disciplines divided in this way:

from Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster and Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard

The discipline of "study" is foundational to other disciplines, because it is the process by which we receive the Word into our hearts.  By diligent study, we invite the Spirit to sow the seed of God's Word generously on the fields of our hearts. 

This week's message is about how to make the most of the study time that you have with the Lord.

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