Seed On Good Soil

THOSE ARE THE ONES ON WHOM SEED (GOD’S WORD) WAS SOWN ON THE GOOD SOIL; and they hear the word and accept it, and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. Mark 4.20.

Many Christians do not read the Bible even though they possess it, often many copies of it! Those who read find some portions difficult to understand. You need the Holy Spirit, the ‘real author’ of the Bible, to help you to understand it. If you pray like King David, “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” (Psa 119.18), before you begin to read the Bible, the Holy Spirit will help you to understand.

When Jesus began to speak to the people about the kingdom of God, they couldn’t understand Him! To add to their confusion, Jesus began to speak in ‘parables’ or stories. You would have thought that Jesus did this in order to help them to understand the truths better. But surprisingly the gospels say, ‘everything is said in parables so that they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding” (vs 11,12).It is a mystery!

But the disciples always asked Jesus about what they couldn’t understand! “When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables” (v.10). We too need to ask the Lord to explain to us what we do not understand when we read the Bible. But you need 'to go to the Lord’ and give Him time to teach you!

This parable of the ‘Sower and the Seed’ is the first Jesus ever told the people. Jesus taught the disciples the meaning of the parable. He also told them they needed to understand this parable to understand all the others! It is imperative for you to understand this parable well for the simple reason that if you don’t, you will be like the others, “ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding".

Jesus was teaching what kind of person you should be in order for the Word to thrive in your life. We are typically of four types. 1) The roadside type – never listens to the Word well 2) The rocky type – hard ground for the Word to take root 3) Like among thorns – lets the care and anxiety for the material things and lust choke the Word and make it fruitless 4) Like the good soil – receives the Word and allows it to grow and bear fruit up to a hundred fold!

What kind of soil are you – your heart? How do you receive the Word whenever you hear it? Do you listen carefully and put it into practice? The Lord expects you to be like the good soil! When you hear the Word of God, whether by reading it or through someone teaching or preaching, ‘something must happen in you!’ Jesus told clearly what He expects of you – “hear the word and accept it, and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold”.

Early in life, I made it a point to make a mental or written note of what I hear or even read! The reason? I want to get something that will change or improve my life and help me to be a better person! That is why I always carried a pen and a diary. Now I carry a PDA!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, let me ever hear the Word and accept it, and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and even a hundredfold. Please fulfill in me Your expectation. Amen.