Plant Your Seeds-In His Word 11-9-15
Jesus sent us a lot of help in His
Word; sometimes we just do not see or hear it.
He wanted us to understand the important things that we would only know via the Holy Spirit, he knew not everyone would understand so he gave us Parables.
Then if we are truly listening for the truth, we would hear it.
On the same day Jesus went out of the
house and sat by the sea. 2 And great
multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat;
and the whole multitude stood on the shore. 3 Then He spoke many things to them in
parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came
and devoured them. 5 Some fell on stony
places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up
because they had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up
they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 7 And some fell among
thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 8 But others fell on good
ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears to hear,
let him hear!” Matthew 13:1-9
When we read “he who has ears to hear…” he means those who
are listening not just with our physical ears but also with our Spirit, the
Holy Spirit who will help us understand. Even though Jesus had not sent the
Comforter we know that He shared via the Spirit identifying Him as the Christ.
Peter knew Him this way in Matthew 16:17.
3 When Jesus
came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I,
the Son of Man, am?” 14 So they said,
“Some say John the
Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”15 He said to them, “But who do you say that
I am?”16 Simon Peter
answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon
Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
So do you know who the Christ is? Do you know who Jesus is?
If we indeed believe in the Lord Jesus Christ then we can
be saved, according to Acts 16:31.
Knowing Jesus for real is what we need to be saved. Jesus
went on to explain the parables above to explain that not every seed of faith
we plant will flourish. Some people will believe shallowly; they will be
excited about Jesus but allow the heaviness of life to dry them up.
Some people will be a ‘church going Christian’ one minute
and then the cares of the world will choke them out of believing. These cares
can be seem normal to the world; such as loving money, fun but worldly parties,
bills, even keeping our homes in order can become a burden when we do not
remember to stay connected to the roots. Our Roots need to be grounded in the
Word of God. So it is important to be sure the seeds you plant in faith
believing your friends will stay the line are tended to. We need to be sure
that they do not get choked out by the weeds in the church; and we all know
there are weeds there. The people who are condescending, or overly judgmental,
or even those who think they can walk in the world and in the church at the
same time. In fact, the later there are more dangerous that the first ones.
With the condescending people you know they usually mean well but are not sure
how to deal with things. The judgmental, ca go either way sometimes it is good
to be judged by our peers to see the good in our walk, but if this is too harsh
it is not good.
The Parable of the Sower
Explained
18 “Therefore hear the
parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the
word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in
his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 20 But he who received the
seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it
with joy; 21 yet he has no root in
himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution
arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now he who received seed
among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the
deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 But he who received seed
on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces:
some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Matthew 13:18-23
Personally I would rather be the one rooted and grounded in
the Word myself. I would rather all my friends and relatives are so as well. So
I will continue to study the Word and encourage others to do so as well.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your guidance in our
lives through your Word. Help us to study it and really get to know what it is
all about so that we may plant good seeds in good places. Then help us to nurture
them with the Word. In Jesus name, amen.
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