Mark 4:20 (Amplified) says, "And those sown on the good (well adapted) soil are the ones who hear the Word and rescue and accept and welcome it and bear fruit-some thirty times as much as was sown, some sixty times as much, and some (even) a hundred times as much."
If you notice, the same seed that brought forth a hundred times as much, was the same seed that was taken from them in verse fourteen. The seed never changed; only the heart (or spirit) of the hearer. Not everyone wants to walk in the fullness of the Word. It seems strange to me that some are content to just go to heaven and not be bothered with going any further with God.
Even in those who heard, they didn't bring forth the same amount of return. The seed would have produced one hundred times as much in any of the ones who heard it. Anyone who ever put out a garden knows that after you sow the seed you must watch over it and "tend" the garden.
I passed out about 100 packets of watermelon seed in our church one time. The back of the seed packet told how to plant and care for the seed and plants. The seeds were for short growing watermelons and would mature within 90 days of planting. Each person was quipped with the same chance to produce a harvest. I told the people that we would have a church dinner and have watermelon for all after 90 days. At the end of the 90 days when we were to have watermelon, we ended up with only two. As I compare this with the parable of the sower, I began to realize that not everyone takes things seriously at all. You say that, well, after all, it was just watermelon.
If we can be faithful in little things, then God can put us in charge of greater things. Many simply forgot to water the seed, many forgot to even plant it, and some planted it far later than they should have and their harvest would come in very late (far too late for watermelon).
It was a simple experiment, but it showed how many things choke out our harvest in the Kingdom. It wasn't that the watermelon didn't like some people and it wasn't that only certain people were chosen to have watermelon, but it was that most just didn't take the time to invest their time in such little things.
It showed the character of many people and their role in the promises of the covenant. Why should I spend time messing with this seed when I could just go to the grocery store and buy one? Well, when watermelon season is over, it can get pretty hard to find watermelon just anywhere.
When the seed isn't taken care of then it can be very hard to make it grow. They didn't have to plant the entire packet of seed, just some of it. If they only planted one seed, then it would have produced a watermelon that held hundreds of seed to plant later. The results were, that if you planted them (even indoors) and taken care of them, then you could eat watermelon from your own seed even January.
No farmer ever went out to plant a cornfield and sowed one hundred bushel of seed, only to expect one hundred bushel of harvest. Each seed would bring forth a stalk; each stalk would bring forth several ears; and each ear would bring forth several kernels of corn. The result would be that you got back at least 30, 60, or 100 times as much as was sown. Now you have that to eat from and more to sow as well.
Whatever time you spend in the Word of God, is time well spent. As you woe the Word in your heart, you must guard your heart to protect the seed. Proverbs 4:23 (Amplified) says, "Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life."
We sometimes don't guard our heart and we lose our harvest. The soil that the Word is sown in is good soil. The Holy Spirit has prepared it to receive this seed. The problem with good soil is this...the ground doesn't have any say in what it grows. The same soil that will grow corn will grow poison ivy just as well. The same soil that will produce one hundred fold for the Kingdom will, with the same gusto, produce ragweed or burdock.
This is why we must guard our heart or tend the garden. We can't put up a scarecrow and expect the devil to be afraid of it and leave the seed alone. It takes the diligence of the hearer to guard the Word in his heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment