Changing your mind again

Jesus, help me remember it's okay to change my mind about little things, but not about following you! Amen.

Jesus told a story: "A farmer went out to plant seeds. Some seeds fell on the path and birds ate them. Some fell on rocky ground and grew quickly, then died because they didn't have deep roots. Some fell into the weeds, where they grew but then got smothered by the weeds and died. But some seeds fell on good ground and gave huge crops." He finished by saying, "Whoever has ears, hear this."

All kids change their minds a lot. One month, you might think your Playstation is the best toy ever; the next month, you're bored with Playstation games and you'd rather play baseball every day!

On the other hand, there are things you never change your mind about: Maybe you can't stand eating bananas or watching "American Idol," for example, and you can't imagine liking them.

This week's Gospel (Matthew 13:1-9) is about things you change your mind about and things you keep liking. Jesus talks about a farmer planting seeds; the farmer is really God, and the seeds are people.

Like seeds on rocky ground, Jesus says, some people are "planted" on the earth, but don't really grow -- they don't follow God or get close to Jesus at all. Other people, the "seeds that fell into the weeds," start out saying they want to be good, but get distracted by other things and forget about God.

All those people are like you when you change your mind. But, Jesus added, some people are like seeds planted on good ground: They find out about God and keep following Him, never changing their minds.

When you're bored with Playstation or hating bananas, that's okay. You don't have to always like them, because they're not very important. But, Jesus hoped we'd never change our minds about liking and following Him!