I recently looked up the definition of the word “seed.” It has been declared the time of the Harvest and there are so many analogies being thrown about referring to this. A seed can be defined as a source or beginning; a small amount of material used to start a chemical reaction. Seeds in the natural are your actions, your thoughts, but mostly your words. People can forgive your action and your thoughts can progress through personal growth but words stick; they plant themselves in the heart of the receiver and grow… Speak kind words one to another planting good seeds in the heart of your peers. In the spiritual realm the word is the seed. In Mark 4:14 Jesus says “The sower soweth the word.” This is the word your hear through sermons, the word you read speaking to yourself as well as the word you speak to others through witnessing. Jesus breaks down in Mark 4 the different types of land that the word is sown into. This is one of my favorite parables because he tells them the parable then breaks it down leaving no room for wrong interpretation. It allows you to really see where you are in your walk with God and where you want to be.
Is the word you are receiving being sown into stony ground, among thorns, or not even sown at all but being thrown to the waste side? I personally have been in all of these categories. The key is realization and determination to move forward in your spiritual journey seeking the good prosperous ground.
Those whose word is being thrown by the waste side (Mark 4:15) may in fact hear the word; whether it be a preacher, preaching or someone witnessing to them. Before they can even digest the words that they heard, it is immediately taken away. They may not like the person who is speaking to them, maybe don’t agree with the particular teaching, but for whatever reason it is dismissed immediately. In situations like this it is imperative that the sower does not get discouraged. Sometimes God sends you to the one person you would rather not witness to just to test your wiliness to obey. Saved or not where God says go and speak you must obey. Jeremiah 1:7 says “… and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.” Now the Lord was speaking to Jeremiah the prophet but it’s the same principle for us today. I have personally had to speak to someone who had wronged me and I know they weren’t in the mind frame to hear any scripture from me but I refused to stump my personal growth for fear of how someone would receive from me.
Individuals who are letting their word fall into stony ground (Mark 4:16) are those that have not established roots. Those who you see come to church faithfully then STOP. They are the feel good saints that appreciate those happy, let’s talk about the goodness of God sermons but as soon the preacher starts calling them out on what they need to do for the Lord it gets too hard. As soon as troubles or persecution comes for the words sake they can’t handle it. They grow offended and turn their back to God. The life of a sinner does seem simpler than that of a Christian at times but I promise get to where God has intended and there will be nothing you can’t do.
Thorns… If I had to put people I know personally in a category it would be that most of them fall into this category. These individuals hear the word. Really hear it, really take it in; but their lives and the way of the world completely disintegrate it. Have you ever heard anyone say “be in the world but not of the world?” We are born into this world so we have to be in it, the only way to escape that is through death but as Christians we should not be of the world (1 John 2:15-16). We should walk, talk, carry ourselves different. NO NO NO I am not asking you to be holier than thou I am just saying that if your in a room full of unsaved individuals people can notice a difference; even if it’s just your demeanor. I know a lot of folk that act holy with the holy and not with the unsaved; this isn’t what I’m talking about either. But who you innately are showcases a walk with Christ. I’m 25, most times you will see me in jeans and a top, I have natural hair and always have a set of ear phones in my ear. I look like a lot of other 25 year old students. But I have had people tell me there was something different about me, a sweet calming spirit that attracts people; that’s the God in me because before I was a fireball. There is a difference. To describe the ground full of thorns Jesus says in Mark 4:19 “and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word and it becometh unfruitful…” Love God more than your money, car, clothes and any other worldly possession. Love the giver of these things more than the things themselves.
Finally the good ground… This is where God desires for us all to be. The ground that hears the word and lets it linger and grow, changing us from the inside out. Those who really take the word and apply it to their lives; those who receive it! “… and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, and some an hundred.” There are different stages in this category as there are different commitment levels in Christians. If you know you aren’t giving 100% there is room to grow. I don’t think anyone witnesses to every single person they have an opportunity to witness to, and doesn’t really take to heart every word they receive. Personal progress is the key and really acknowledging where you area personally and pushing to becoming better.
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