Deep vs. Shallow

Matthew 7:^24-25 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.”

We will kick off today’s devotional with our final thought from yesterday. The shelf life of God’s Word must be sustained in our lives. I got the term shelf life from the grocery store. The shelf life of God’s Word should last from generation to generation, and we have to be deliberate about it. Sadly, we move on too quickly. That is why some Christians are very vast, they know about this and that about many things. Before you quote a scripture, they pick it and complete it. But these same people who are very vast are very shallow. It is almost nauseating to see tons of people who are just vast in God’s Word but shallow in the things of the Spirit (shallow spiritually). Like shallow waters, the water is wide, but it doesn’t go past the ankle.

How do you know such people? They know the title of every message Jesus ever preached. Before Jesus quotes a scripture, they know where it is in Isaiah. They are quick to say, “I was there during that Bible study, or I have been in church since 2010, or I was part of that service.” Jesus says the test for shallowness or depth is trials, the challenges of life. And when these same people are faced with the challenges of life, they lose it. They begin to behave like rascals, saying all sorts of things. And you are wondering, but this person was there when we were taught how to respond to worry. Yet they insist on worrying.

The truth is that such people are shallow because all they know is “…be anxious for nothing”. They can quote the scripture, and if others don’t quote it correctly, they correct them. But when life’s challenges come, they are worried and anxious, having anxiety attacks about everything. Shallow! I pray in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth that God will give you depth. Shallowness is the bane of loads and loads of people. People are vast but very shallow, quick to harbour offense in their hearts. Quick to say, “I have forgiven him, but I will show that man pepper”. It is a problem, and it shows that though you are vast, you are shallow. All you have are your own tools. Depth means having and deploying the tools of Heaven.

Life happens to everyone, but how people respond is usually different. Remember the story of the two houses, one built on sand and the other built on the rock. Inherent in that analogy is the fact that the house built on sand had a shallow foundation. And the house built on the rock had a solid foundation. Both experienced the rain and the storm, but one stood, and one fell. What determined the difference was their depth. You need to deal with shallowness.

Prayer: Father, help me see and deal with shallowness in my life and empower me to grow deep roots in the things of the Holy Spirit, in the Name of Jesus. Amen!