“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” Luke 8:5-7
If you are born again, you are charged with the Great Commission of Christ. We are to be disciplers. We are to win souls. Each seed we plant matters. Seeds can be planted anywhere you go—at the gas station, in the park, at work, on vacation, in school or even in church. God’s Word and the presence of His Spirit working through us—is a powerful combination.
The seed is God’s Word.
It has remarkable power because it is the embodiment of Christ, and it brought the world into existence. (Genesis 1 and John 1) WHEN and WHERE we plant the seed should be directed by God’s Spirit. To have our life directed by God’s Spirit—we must be actively and intentionally pursuing His ways. This is why learning the attitudes of Christ has been so critical to my growth! Becoming more like Jesus makes sowing His seed our first response in every place in time we find ourselves.
Through the gift of salvation, God has given us the ability to know “the mysteries of the kingdom of God!” Luke 8:10
Several years ago, I was visiting my sister and her family. While at her church, a lady came up to me and said: “I want to thank you because you are the reason my family and I got saved.” She went on to explain:
“I was interviewing for a job at your office, and in the course of the interview, it came up that I was also looking for a daycare. You suggested that I put my children in your church’s school. The only thing I heard was that it was cheaper than daycare. So we enrolled our children, and started attending your church. I would have otherwise never gone to a church like yours. But—through the ministry of the church—we came to know Christ.”
Her story made my soul rejoice! I gave her a big hug and thanked her for telling me her story. It made me so thankful to be part of God’s planting team! We don’t always get to see the fruit from the seeds we plant but when we do—it’s such a profound blessing. It is by faith in God that we plant every seed. God’s Word is profoundly powerful. He said:
“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:10-11
We are each responsible for the soil of our heart and how we respond to God’s Word.
“The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.” Luke 8:11-15
The fruit that grows in our life reveals the soil. If we have pulled the weeds, removed the rocks, watered with the Spirit and allowed the Son to shine—we will produce fruit. This fruit is so abundant that it is always nourishing others. The main course on our table satisfies the souls of those who come into our house. When we allow the Word to grow in our heart, we are unafraid to sow the seed wherever God tells us because we know that He knows the future. We do not know how the Spirit will move or how or when a person will receive the Word.
If we are born again, we are given the seeds of life and we need to plant them everywhere we go. We never know who is ready to be made alive in Christ but we do know His Word never returns void.
