Matthew 13:18-23 / Mark 4:13-20 / Luke 8:11-15…
The sound of the seed…
Understanding this parable is the key to all parables. The Word of God is like a seed, and while there is a spiritual truth to each story, not all soil is good ground to plant in. This is a lesson for anyone who sows seed, it may land in the weeds, or it may seem like fertile ground but just underneath the soil is rocks, or the devil just steals it away.
The point is that we are not the issue in evangelism, it is not our power, eloquence, skill, or methods, people get saved because of the power of the gospel itself and the power of God.
Yes we should be informed, inspiring, and intentional (Colossians 4:5-6 / 1 Peter 3:15), but the seed is its own “miracle grow”. It isn’t that we must find some new way to plead, prod or persuade it is that we need to be faithful to plant. It is not about fixing the soil or removing some “block” that keeps the seed from sinking in, there are only two types of soil, that which can receive and that which cannot.
That being said, and considering our own lives, if we are good ground, having been born again by the Word of God (James 1:18 / 1 Peter 1:23) we can still hinder our own spiritual health. We can fall back into the old ways if we do not keep attached to the new way (John 15:4-6).
Who are we listening to? We see here that for most it is the false teaching of the world (Mark 4:18-19), the flesh (Mark 4:16-17), and the devil (Mark 4:15) that are doing the talking and being listened to. Those who listen to God hear His Word, accept it, and it bears fruit (Mark 4:20).
The present truth for you is whether or not you are paying attention to what is being planted.
3 comments:
I like the part about the seed. I also like that we can evangelize and witness all we want and we still can't make the seed take unless it is the ground that God has already chosen. Too often we get mired down in the low number of converts.
The present truth for you is whether or not you are paying attention to what is being planted.
What am I allowing to be planted in my life? Where am I choosing to sow seed?
Good words, you two...
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