Survival is dirty, mean and nasty, there is no referee to give you time out… You are on your own and your ultimate trophy… your life. Anything goes. —Megan Hine
Survival teaches us to sustain life with the tangible tools around us. Broken branches become shelter. Roots become food. Pine needles become kindling. Self-sufficiency is the rule of a survivalist.
We’re not called to be survivors in Christ; rather, we’re called to thrive. And the only way to thrive in Christ is to embrace his work in our lives. To experience Christ but reject His cross is to choose self-sufficiency.
To illustrate this spiritual truth, the author of Hebrews gives us a metaphor of two fields:
Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned. (Hebrews 6:7-8)
Both fields received rain and seed, but one is being choked by thorns and the other is alive, thriving. One received God’s blessings, but the other is in danger. What’s the difference between the two fields?
The difference appears to be whether or not the field has drunk the rain—symbolic of the Gospel. Perhaps the ground in one field is tilled, while the other field is still hard, allowing the rain to run off.
Some will argue this passage shows how believers can fall from Christ and become a barren field. I disagree. If this warning were intended for believers, then we’d expect to see a field that had once thrived but is now barren.
Instead, we have two fields—one that lives, and one that doesn’t—making this a message for those who haven’t trusted Jesus yet while experiencing a Christian lifestyle.
The metaphor invites folks who are merely experiencing Christianity to step into intimacy with Jesus. Take a drink of Living Water and do more than survive—thrive.
Lord, I choose to soak in Your good news. Flourish in me and through me, Lord, let me thrive. Amen.