This morning we continue our series entitled, “Refined Focus”. We have been studying the parable of the sower for months. Today I want to go back to the parable with a message entitled, “The Word Causes You To Grow.”
Jesus said:
“The farmer is like someone who plants God’s teaching in people. Sometimes the teaching falls on the path. That is like some people who hear the teaching of God. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the teaching that was planted in them.
Other people are like the seed planted on rocky ground. They hear the teaching, and they quickly and gladly accept it. But they don’t allow it to go deep into their lives. They keep it only a short time. As soon as trouble or persecution comes because of the teaching they accepted, they give up.
Others are like the seed planted among the thorny weeds. They hear the teaching, but their lives become full of other things: the worries of this life, the love of money, and everything else they want. This keeps the teaching from growing, and it does not produce a crop in their lives.
And others are like the seed planted on the good ground. They hear the teaching and accept it. Then they grow and produce a good crop—sometimes 30 times more, sometimes 60 times more, and sometimes 100 times more.” (Mark 4:13-20 ERV)
This morning I am going to focus in on the words, “They hear the teaching and accept it. Then they grow and produce a good crop.” Notice the following:
- The person Jesus likens to good ground accepts the Word of God and the context Jesus provides makes it clear that this person is free of competing priorities.
- All this person did was accept the Word of God into their heart.
- Jesus said that THEY grow as a result of it. Did you catch that? Jesus likens the Word of God to seed and our hearts to soil. And He then said that when His Word is sown in our heart WE grow. Jesus did not say that the seed of the Word grows in our heart. No, He said WE GROW because of the Word. This is a significant distinction.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
- The Word of God is Spirit and life. It is supernatural and limitless. When it is sown in your heart as seed it causes supernatural change.
- When God places His Word in you to grow He does not refer to the Word growing, He refers to YOU growing.
- The more you get God’s Word down inside your heart, the better positioned you are to change your mind (the way you think), emotions (the way you feel) and will (the way you make decisions) to line up with God. If you make this a practice, you will wake up one day and realize that the Word of God sown in you has produced Godly change from the inside-out.
- Make it a daily practice to get God’s Word down in your heart. Like the farmer who sows seed in the ground, the seed is working while the farmer is sleeping. This is what happens when you get God’s Word down in your heart. Day and night, whether you are awake or sleeping, the Word of God is working, producing change IN you for all the world to see.
- The seed of the Word of God sown in your heart produces a harvest in your life. But God does not do this by making the seed grow. He actually makes YOU grow. You become the harvest from the seed. People can’t see the seed down in your heart, but they can see the change it produces in your life!
Closing Confession: Father, this is a season of refined focus for me. I bring my life into focus in 2016. This is my season. This is my time. I am ready to grow and develop in You. I get Your Word down in my heart on a daily basis. The power and potential found in Your Word is unleashed in my life. The seed of the Word does not grow in my heart, it actually causes ME to grow. I am the harvest produced from Your Word. I am the change You produce for all the world to see. So Father I thank You for sowing Your Word in me, and for causing me to grow from the inside-out. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
