Jesus welcomed the people, taught them about the Kingdom of God and healed those in need. Luke 9:11

Seeds of the Kingdom

Sugar

by Andrew Tissingh

…but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.
Psalm 1: 2-3, NIV

I’ve found out the hard way that sometimes when kids eat too much birthday cake they go wild, and then crash when the sugar wears off. I recently found out that we adults aren’t immune to this either! At a party I consumed copious amounts of cake. To avoid getting your taste buds tingling let’s avoid the details of the cakes themselves and just say they were tremendously delicious. I could feel the sugar rushing through my body and my eyes beginning to flicker like a tube light warming up before it explodes into light. My mouth cried out for more cake and yet the sugar headache beginning to rise was warning me: “slow down, have some water and eat something savoury”.

I remember feeling like that at church once. But rather than sugar it was truth. It tasted so good to my spirit, I wanted more and more. I just kept taking it in, even though my mind was unable to process the depth of the truths that were being revealed. As with cake, there came a point that I crashed. It had been a tremendous evening, but a few days later I couldn’t recall the truths I’d heard. There was a vague recollection of something meaningful, but the details were beyond me.

I wonder how much truth we’ve heard in our lives without applying it? Maybe we’ve moved on too quickly, not given our minds time to process how, or what we are to change, to come into line with what we’ve heard. We busy ourselves trying to get more information, without taking time to reflect and let it change us deep within. Eventually it becomes too much and we get overloaded.

‘Meditate on His law day and night’ - That sounds to me like an ongoing, steady process, which ensures there’s real understanding and long lasting change within us. It becomes deeply rooted and secure. We can draw on the depth of understanding and revelation of truth for a long time and can then ‘yield fruit and not wither’.

So, how do we ensure that we don’t wither? We must learn to recognise when we’re rushing through cake (kingdom truths), and then slow down, making sure we are digesting it deeply in our spirits. We must meditate on the truths continually so we have a deeper understanding, which will last and sustain us.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, please help me to take the time to focus and understand Your truth so it will change me and allow me to grow deep roots, so I can bear much fruit and not wither. Amen.

Andrew Tissingh grew up as a missionary kid in northern Africa. He moved to the UK in 2004, where he worked with London inner city youth for six years. He and his wife did the 9 week school at Ellel Grange in 2011, and stayed on to serve. Andrew has a heart to disciple young people, and in particular to see people’s lives changed by practically applying truth.

 

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