by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n
The parable of the sower and the seed is popular, and for good reason. It’s not hard to see the various attitudes and personalities in the different soils offered in the parable. However, as Luke explains Jesus’s story, it’s the last sentence that is sometimes hardest for me. The reason is that Jesus says that growth takes time and effort.<\/p>\n
A person can indeed move from lost to saved in a heartbeat, from profane to pious, from unholy to holy. But sanctification is a lifetime process; sometimes, truth be told, it moves a little too slowly for me. I want to be a spiritual giant, to offer sage and spiritual advice to others, to show patience with those who slip from time to time, and to offer the gospel to a world that sorely needs it, even when few seem to want to listen. In other words, I want to bear fruit in my life that offers the outliving of the in-living Christ. But again, that takes time and work and more work and more time.<\/p>\n
I’ve had to exercise a lot of patience and perseverance lately, but as followers of Christ, we all have our struggles and vices. Some we can overcome right away, others may take years or even a lifetime to conquer. I’m glad that Jesus is a patient farmer because the fruit He’s tending in me is taking a little longer than I wish it did. But I’m glad He’s still working on, and with, me.<\/p>\n
So, I’ll try to be honest and patient in my journey, knowing that, in time, there will be ripened fruit that accompanies the gospel.<\/p>\n
“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<\/em>” (Luke 8:15).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Zeke Flores The parable of the sower and the seed is popular, and for good reason. It’s not hard to see the various attitudes and personalities in the different soils offered in the parable. However, as Luke explains Jesus’s story, it’s the last sentence that is sometimes hardest for me. The reason is that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[383,513,581],"class_list":["post-84108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-growth","tag-maturity","tag-patience"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92630,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-will-remove-its-hedge\/","url_meta":{"origin":84108,"position":0},"title":"I Will Remove Its Hedge","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Joe Hickman via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 15 No. 2, February 2015 I recently had the opportunity to travel to Mozambique. While there, I noticed an abundance of bushes covered with enormous thorns. Sometimes these thorn bushes were just sitting in no particular place, as though waiting to give a big\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92696,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/little-johnny-is-not-paying-attention\/","url_meta":{"origin":84108,"position":1},"title":"Little Johnny Is Not Paying Attention","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Brad Harrub, Ph.D. I am going to say something firmly-then I am going to back it up with facts: Stop allowing your smartphones, iPads, or TV to babysit your young children! It's affecting their spiritual (and secular) education. Yes, some of the content is pure evil or trash-but that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adolescence"","block_context":{"text":"Adolescence","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/adolescence\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95115,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-sat-and-waited\/","url_meta":{"origin":84108,"position":2},"title":"I Sat and Waited","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 15, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Brandon Edwards I do that a lot, waiting. Waiting for students. Picking up food. Sitting in the car waiting for my kids. But waiting has not always been something I have enjoyed. In fact, waiting has never been my favorite thing - and in a culture that wants everything\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33503,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-do-with-people-who-accepted-the-truth-but-continue-to-attend-their-denominational-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":84108,"position":3},"title":"What do you do with people who accepted the truth but continue to attend their denominational churches?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is your advice to the teachers of a group of people who have been taught the word in a group Bible study, have accepted it, gotten baptized, but do not want to attend the Lord's church?\u00a0 They have wholeheartedly for months have been happy to keep studying the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93888,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/willing-to-wait\/","url_meta":{"origin":84108,"position":4},"title":"Willing to Wait","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 12, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores Jacob works seven years for Rachel, and Genesis 29:20 says they \"seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.\"\u00a0It's a beautiful picture of how love reframes effort. Jacob isn't counting the cost; he's focused on the joy set before him. There's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/waiting-300x169.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":96202,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/let-patience-have-its-perfect-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":84108,"position":5},"title":"Let Patience Have Its Perfect Work","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 19, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton James not only was inspired to tell us how to consider our trials, but also commands that we \"let patience have its perfect work\" (James 1:4), \"that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.\" So, what does all of this mean? \"Let\" means to allow,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84108\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}