Is God Generous? Once You Hear That He Is, Act Quickly!

I recently heard the question asked:  "What inhibits us from being persuaded that God is good and that He will provide?"

In attempting to answer this question, I'd like to draw on two stories.  First, the story of Simon the magician, and second, the sower of seeds.

Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great; and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, "This man is what is called the Great Power of God."  And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts. But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike. Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.

Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, "Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!  Acts 8:9-20

And now the second story, but more shorter here:

The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the [a]air ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. 8 Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.  Luke 8:5-8

Peter was condemning of Simon the magician for wanting to buy the gift of God, and we've learned to do the same.  We think poorly of him and view the story as a lesson learned.  The same can be said about the story of the sower of seeds; we think the main point is the different area upon which the seed fell.  In a way it is, but in an important way it is not.

We know that the Spirit of God was trying to get across to Peter the fact that the Gentiles were now invited into the family of God, and this is something that took Peter a while to understand, for he said of himself, "I have never touched anything unclean."  But let's consider Simon's experience:  Scripture says that he believed!  So now he is a new convert and a Christian.  In other words, he has just left a religious system in which he believed that he had to earn what he got.  That is the cult of gods and goddesses from which he came.  Let's not be so hard on Simon the magician for offering money to buy the power of God for miracles.  He was just a guy who had just become a Christian and was just behaving according to a religion he had just left in which you had to pay for what you got.  In other words, he was unaccustomed to Grace.

So, how should we see the story of the sower of seeds differently?  Well, I'd like to suggest to you that this story is not about the soil, but rather it is about the generosity of the sower.  God is gracious, and the sower didn't just sow on "good" soil, he literally threw his seed all over the place.  We have come to criticize the soil, but the story reveals a generous sower of seed.  The reality remains, however, that some soil didn't receive the seed, and there are even today Simons out there who learned to believe that God is not generous and that they must pay for what they want.

Now, here we have two examples that match this question, "What inhibits us from being persuaded that God is good and that He will provide?"

May I suggest to you that if you've rejected God because you think He's too demanding or too restrictive, then you've believed a lie and you are being robbed of an incredible relationship with a loving Father who has always been blessing you.  You can know Him better, but you must first believe that He does indeed exist and that He is generous.

The fact is that He has sown generously into your life and will continue to do so.  The issue is whether or not you will act quickly on this:

ground that sits too long before being sown with seeds for harvest will actually begin to produce weeds.

I pray that whatever has caused you to think that God is not generous will be undone in your life, for the exact opposite is actually the truth.  Once you hear that God is gracious, generous, and loving, act quickly.  Let Him impress you.

Grace=Peace,

Jeremy