This morning I was reading in Luke 8 which includes Jesus' parable of the farmer sowing seed in a field. Here Jesus is giving an analogy of how His teachings of the kingdom of God are received. For those that are not open to what He's teaching they will not understand and they will not find the treasure in it. For others that are open minded, they see the treasure and receive it but, because of the hardships of life on this earth, because of the attraction of material things and because of the lure of the so-called pleasures of this earthly life, they lose hold and their lives are strangled and choked out. Then there are those whose hearts are like fertile soil where the seed takes hold, they see the treasure and hold on even during the storms that life throws at them. They are not taken in by a life of material things and detrimental pleasures. They thrive even though life is difficult and they share what they have so that, with time, others find the treasure which they have found.

I thought about the ones who received and saw the treasure but because of the hardships and cares of living on this earth, lost their hold and were choked out so that they did not mature and multiply as they should have. I thought of myself and how I identified with these seeds. Life is difficult and discouraging and it can become overwhelming to the point of choking the life out of us.  The difficulties blind us from seeing the treasure God has intended for us. We become incapacitated, unproductive, negative and overwhelmed with the difficulties we face each day and lose sight of that treasure as promised with time and patience. 

All of us are surrounded by "weeds" that strangle and choke. Perhaps those weeds can be rooted out so that our hearts are planted in fertile, weed-free soil.  Perhaps we can have roots deep and strong to help us survive what life has to assail us with.

This blog is about the journey in and through the rooting process.