During the last month of my preschool class, one of our projects was to plant some sunflower seeds outside of our classroom window. We prepared the soil, making sure it was nice and loose to allow water and air to reach the roots once they sprouted. When it was all ready we pushed our seeds into the earth. Not knowing anything about planting, we thought that the seeds would immediately spring up out of the earth, but it was not so. As soon as we heard that it would probably be at least a week or two before they sprouted, we went back to our crayons and building blocks, a bit disappointed.
Over the next few days we would arrive at preschool and immediately go to the window, hoping that maybe the seeds had decided to spring forth early, but nothing yet. But around the fourth or fifth day, something changed. Like the previous 3 or 4 days, that morning we went to the window to check on our seeds, but what we saw was not what any of us were expecting. The place where our seeds had been planted had now been covered with fresh asphalt. No grass or dirt in sight. As you can imagine, all of us young children were extremely saddened. The teacher apologized, not knowing that this had been planned weeks earlier, but it did little to cheer us up.
As our school year came to a close, we began to start to pack up our things to take back home with us for the summer; pencils, books, drawings, etc. The last day came. With nothing planned in regards to learning that day, it was mostly just a day of playing and celebration, and we all had a great time. But something special happened that day. In the middle of all of the juice, candy and other treats, someone looked outside of the window. “Look!” they shouted. We all rushed to the window to see what was the matter, and no one could believe what they saw. There, in the black asphalt, were our sunflower plants. They had sprouted and pushed their way through to the surface.
As I think back to that time in my life, it reminds me of when Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:9-10.
“Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.
Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”
Paul had been out planting seeds of faith, starting churches and preaching to people everywhere about the salvation that is found in Christ Jesus. But some people didn’t like him doing that. They disliked that so much in fact that they began to persecute him, making him out to be some kind of evil person. They even went so far as to imprison him to try to silence him and prevent even more seeds from being spread and starting to grow.
But as Paul wrote, the word of God is not bound. The love of Jesus cannot be stopped by prison walls. Remember Romans 8:35-39, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
People can persecute you, they can put you in prison, they could even go as far as killing your body, but they can never take away your faith. People have tried for centuries to try to stop the word of God, but it is still here. The name of Christ will endure forever. Because, just like those sunflowers, the word of God cannot be bound.
In Christ,
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 