The Revelation church community is in the midst of a season of teaching that explores the metaphors Jesus and the New Testament writers use to explore the life, hope and mystery of what God has to say. Last week the fabulous Will Moore took us through an excellent examination of God's word as light (you can download it here, well worth the effort). Yesterday I shared for 30 minutes on the culmination of weeks of mulling, meditating, memorising, discussing and refining my thoughts on God's word as seed.
I really enjoyed preparing this talk, mainly because discovering the beauty and life to be had through the Bible has been a slow and edifying journey that's marked my last five years. There is so much to discover, so much to learn, so much to be challenged by, so much to wrestle with, so much to enjoy. After years of reading I still firmly believe I am barely scraping the surface. Looking at the Bible as a seed to be planted, tended and harvested resonated with my experience and hope. I mused over how to prepare the soil of my heart, how to plant the seed by reading the word in many different ways, how I've learned to water the ground with prayer, and then the most challenging part of all... waiting on God to do His stuff... to bring growth, life, a crop to be enjoyed.
The whole process was a great opportunity to reflect. If you interested in what I ended up sharing you can download it here.