Do you ever feel like you’re covered up? I don’t mean covered as to be kept warm and comforted, but covered up by life in such a way that you are somehow trapped, or limited, or bound up in some way from what you really want?

And, sometimes, isn’t the covering like dirt, whatever dirt may mean? (The world?)

As my Carol would say: “Here’s the deal!”

Jesus often taught in parables, to illustrate spiritual concepts in practical ways. He didn’t teach this way just to be clever or colorful, but to be helpful. Jesus wants us to be set free! Jesus wants us to learn His Ways and then be able to follow Him to both freedom from bondages, but also to the abundant life, in the Spirit.

Luke 8:5-15 has the wonderful parable of the sower and the seed. You’ve probably read it a bunch, and heard it expounded upon before. Today, however, I saw it in a new way. For me, an epiphany, if you will, and I hope for you too.

Think about a seed. What does a seed want, or need? A seed needs to be covered in dirt, doesn’t it? What a strange thought, that the dirt somehow protects the seed, which really wants something better…light! The seed will sit in the dirt for some period of time, and then begin to seek the light, begin to grow, even while covered in dirt. Some water helps. But the seed pushes onward, upward, to punch out of the dirt into the light!

I realize there are all sorts of ways this could be reinterpreted, probably much better than I ‘m doing here, but the point is that even though we’re covered in dirt, we are seeking the light, and that our growth WILL result in a breaking forth! Jesus then gives us sort of a follow-up parable in Luke 13:19 about the mustard seed, and teach us that it is like that with FAITH. Faith is like a seed, He says, which even if covered in dirt (the world) can break forth into the light of day and bear fruit!

Covered in dirt. Seeking the Light. Faith breaks forth.

Easy.

First, we have to understand WHAT is Predestined. It is, that from before the foundation of the world, God loved what He was going to create, mankind…(us!) Then He created it, and loved it all the more. He Predetermined or Predestined that those who would choose Faith in Jesus Christ would be saved for eternity.

Why? Because He knew that The Fall would happen and that man would need a Savior, so from before the beginning He made a way, through Christ Jesus, His death-payment for our sins! Jesus Christ is, remember, the Jewish Messiah, so those “before” Christ who believed in the coming of their Messiah would be … saved.

Man was given Free Will to choose, because man is not a robot. The very best gift a Father can receive is the Love he gets from his children! So if man did not have free will to love God then God would not really be loved at all!

So, please, see that it was the Plan of God that was Predestined, not the specific choices of specific persons, and as such that the Free Will of man is true also.

The larger question, really, might be “How does a man choose God?” What does a man do to “choose” Jesus Christ as his personal Savior? Is it “belief” in Christ? Is it “following Christ”? Is it “faith in Christ”? Obedience? Sacrifice? Love? And, how is it that a man’s choice is measured or determined? What is the proof of it? These things are worth our serious consideration.

It’s the end of another year, when lists of the best and worst of this and that are popular, and when we remember famous or loved people who have died during the year passed. It’s also the time of renewal of expectations, as a New Year launches us into New Hope, for victories over all that hinder us.

I love the coming of a new year. I love the emotional shedding of anything negative as I determine to look ahead to better days. That’s why Spring is so wonderful, as the sun breaks through the grey days of Winter and we rejoice with new life bursting through the once frozen ground.

You see, a participation is required. We get to choose whether to stay in Winter, or let Spring happen, and we also get to choose whether to receive the new year with faithful expectation, or to continue in the old. Now, here is where the skeptic, or worse yet the scientific, would point out that we get no choice whatsoever about the seasons. They happen without us doing anything, and without any participation by us at all. Well, that is exactly the difference between science, and Faith!

I believe we CAN make choices that supersede science, which is exactly what miracle is: super-natural. I believe we CAN put off the old man and put on a new. I believe we CAN be people of Faith, not ‘over’ circumstances, but in spite of them! I believe we CAN pray for our enemies, love our wives, respect our husbands, help the poor, and all the other wonderful ‘guidance’ we find in our Bible. The Law HAS been fulfilled in Christ, and because of Christ all things are made new, even YOU, as you let Him do what He loves to do—transform—-YOU.
Happy New Year, and Happy New YOU!

1. These are holy days; keep them holy.
2. It’s called Thanksgiving, right? So do it!
3. Don’t buy what you can’t afford.
4. Don’t try to purchase someone’s love. Give them yours.
5. Spend time talking together.
6. Go see holiday lights, store window decorations, the Christmas Ships, and other free things.
7. Christmas is Jesus’ birthday, talk about it.
8. Expectations? Don’t accept them, and get rid of the ones you have.
9. Sing!
10. Find a reason to laugh each day.