Spring is for Planting

Luke 8: 9-15: The Purpose of the Parables And when his disciples asked him what this
parable meant,  he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’  Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.  The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.  And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.  As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

This parable describes the Kingdom in its present aspect. It shows us the reality of how we “hear” the Word of God and believe. When we “hear” we become more responsible than we were before we had knowledge. This parable was spoken to a multitude then explained to the disciples. When we hear the Word of God we must be careful to receive it. The Word of God must fall onto good ground to bear good fruit. What kind of soil is our souls? When we are willing to trust and obey, the Holy Spirit will give us the ability to understand the teachings of the Bible. There are 4 kinds of seeds or souls of people around us that we encounter:

1. Wayside Souls: trampled by men and devoured by birds – in Bible times these were the religious leaders who refused to believe God’s message. Seeing and hearing Christ do teach and perform miracles, these people did not actually see and hear TRUTH. They could not understand the meanings of the illustrations of Christ' parables. Today, people see and hear what God is doing in the lives of people around the world, but do not understand the deeper meanings or explanations of how things are happening. These people have hard hearts. The heard in a shallow, superficial way. Only surface level learning. Satan could easily come and snatch it away.

2. Rock Hard Souls: withered away from lack of moisture/living water – crowds who followed Jesus, but believed His message but never got around to doing anything about it. These people also heard the words but like the 1st group did not let it soak in or break into their soul. They remained unrepentant. They had no encouragement (or moisture) for their rock-hard soil of their souls. They withered away and died. They may even make a big, bright profession of faith at 1st, but it ends up being very superficial and emotional with no real change or commitment long-term to go with it. It seemed real, but there are zero roots to dig down into the soil to sustain life when it gets hard. When trouble comes, they quickly abandon faith for the easier, worldly life. It will always be easier to walk in the ways of the world than in the ways of God. Being set apart is what we are called to be. It is called the straight and narrow path for a reason.

3. Thorns / Thorny Souls: growth is chocked out by thorns – those overcome by materialism, no room in their lives for God. This group gets along well for a season, but eventually there is no genuine faith as proved by their lack of steadfastness. They are not sustainable. The cares of this world; pleasures, riches, and fun of life take back control and the Word is snuffed out to just what they do when there is nothing better to do. The seeds eventually get smothered out and die.

4. Good Ground: yielded 100 grains for each seed – they followed no matter the cost, true Christ-following believers with pure intentions who are filled with the Holy Spirit. They received the Word and Abide in it. They pray and meditate over scripture and live for God daily. They allow the Word to mold their lives forevermore. They are teachable and obedient and practice progressive sanctification. They produce the good Fruit of the Holy Spirit.

a. GOD is the FARMER
b. Believers planting seeds are the Seed Sowers
c. Seed are the Word of God
d. SOIL IS THE HEART OF THE PEOPLE WE ARE SHARING THE GOSPEL WITH

Our witnessing efforts may only yield good fruit 25% of the time. We may never get to see our seeds grow to fruition. This should not discourage us. It is not our responsibility to produce the fruit, however it is our job to plant the seeds. It is not the fault of the farmer or the seed when no fruit or bad fruit is produced, or if it quits producing; that is due to the condition of the soil. I remember when we used to have a garden. Kevin would do soil samples to see if we needed to add lime or other things to the soil to make it good, fertile soil for our garden. While we could change the soil in our garden, we CANNOT change the soil of the soul in those we are witnessing to. We are commanded to GO MAKE DISCIPLES, not go be soil scientists. 

Are we doing our best to plant seeds where we are today? 

Do we let the 75% of seeds that fall on by the wayside, rocks, and thorns get us down so that we forget about the 25% that grow in good fertile soil producing 100 fold? Hey, 25% adds up over a lifetime to lots of souls in heaven causing angels to rejoice! Get out there and plant some seeds today…its Spring and Spring is for Planting!

Father God, I know you are the Ultimate, Most High, Master Gardner, help me to never get discouraged when I don’t see immediate results of the cultivating we are doing in ministry. Help me to remember my job is to be the obedient seed sower who sows in faith. Help me to remember to pray for the soil of the souls that I am planting in, so that one day there may be an abundant harvest. Help me to trust in You always. Help me to pray for all the seeds planted all over the world by all your faithful seed sowers. Help me to see each face before me every day as one of your loved children who need you. Help me to be more aware of my surroundings so that I don’t miss opportunities to sow seeds. Thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you for sending your only Son to die for a sinner such as me. I love you. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

I do not own rights to Seed Sower with vocals