Tiny seeds are miraculous little bundles of the future, aren’t they? Each one contains all they need to become a specific plant, like an orchid, peppermint, a grape vine, a cornstalk or a mighty oak tree! With soil, sunshine, and water, seeds grow up to be healthy and serve a purpose on our planet. Some are for food, others will be used to build homes and furniture or become paper, and some are given as a beautiful gift of love like roses. Like all plants, even weeds produce oxygen through photosynthesis and contribute to the air we need to breathe!
Jesus often used simple parables to illustrate profound eternal truth. He told this one about planting seeds, called the parable of the sower. It teaches us that when a person hears God’s message, it’s like a seed. Four things can happen to it:
Mark 4:3-9 (NLT), Jesus speaking:
“Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly, because the soil was shallow. But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died. Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants, so they produced no grain. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even one hundred times as much as had been planted!” Then he said, “anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
Then Jesus goes on to explain what this truly means:
Mark 4:14-20 (NLT):
“The farmer plants seed by taking God‘s word to others. The seed that fell on the foot path represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away. The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God‘s word. The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God‘s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God‘s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
Each of us fit one of these scenarios. We may have heard God’s message taught to us in our homes, or in church, or online, or by a friend. What happens as a result is how we respond. Which describes you?
• If you’ve heard about Jesus offering you forgiveness and eternal life and Satan has deceived you into believing his lie and not the truth… You can change the course of your life and believe God’s truth instead right now.
• If you became a believer at some point in your life, but then problems or persecution pulled up the roots that were beginning to grow… The seed of God’s word is still there and able to grow if you choose to plant it in your heart and start again.
• If your life is so full of worries and chasing money and other material things that they have taken the place of God… You can make room for Him again and put things back in the right order, making Him first in your life.
• If you are a true believer and God’s word has taken root in your heart, you can see what is growing more and more as you become stronger and rooted more deeply over time. Pull out the weeds and keep watering every day… The acres and acres of crops and fruit your life can produce can feed you and many others with the blessings and provisions that God Himself will supply. He can do something new and more than you can imagine.
RESET HIGHER: When you look at your life as a garden or a field, do you see more dirt and weeds than green healthy growth? Will there be nothing to harvest this year or as the result of your life – or more than enough and room to share so others can grow too. You decide.
