Luke 8:9-15
9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant,
10 he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’
11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.
13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.
14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.
15 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.
Luke 8:9-15 (ESV)
There is so much good juiciness here! But there is one bit I really want to focus on here. The last word of verse 15, patience. In Greek the word is hypomone (hoop-a-monay). In the world today is an evolving culture of instant gratification, fast food, fast downloads, fast money. If it is not moving at warp 5, then it’s not interesting to the new world. But right here in this one word, God informs us that we have to learn how to wait for fulfillment. The Greek word means, Patiently, Enduring, Waiting, or I would phrase it, Patiently enduring the wait. That is what the word patience means in this verse because of the way it is used. God say’s that patience is a necessary part of what we should be maturing into. Actually, I see in verse 14 that letting myself get caught up in the instant culture will prevent me from maturing in my faith and the resulting fruit of that maturation will be seriously lacking. Fruit is good. Fruit is one of our motivators. When I see the fruit in someone’s life that I’ve ministered to, then I savor the flavor of God’s success flowing thru me. It is a very sweet, juicy, wonderfully gushing love that makes you want more. And there is only one way to get it. You have to give it away to someone else and then have patience while it grows and matures in their life. I may not ever see the fruit from that particular seed I’ve planted, but I still get a taste of success when it lands in the soil. Patience Grasshopper. Lord, I hate to pray for patience but I know that sometimes, I have none and it’s usually right when I need it most. Help remind me that I only have to lean on Your patience. In Jesus name, Amen and Amen!