Today we continue our series entitled, “Expecting the Word to Work!” This is part 22.
We have been studying the parable of the sower for a few months and within this study we have looked at the thorny ground for a few weeks. Let’s get back to it this morning. Jesus said:
“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.” (Mark 4:18,19)
The people Jesus likened to the thorny ground are people who receive the Word, but then allow their lives to become “full of other things.” The picture Jesus gives us is one of competing priorities. The seed of the Word has been sown in their heart, but so has other seed. The Word is in there, but so are cares, greed and selfish desires. So while the Word is attempting to grow and produce, there are weeds competing with it, and in this case the weeds overtake the Word.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
- If you have a beautiful orange grove and you decide to plant apple seeds, the soil is going to produce apples. The soil will not fight back and say, “Hey, oranges is what I produce!” No, the soil is going to produce whatever you sow into it. So if you sow something you don’t want, you are going to produce something you would rather not have. In this case the issue is not with the soil, it is with the seed you put in it.
- All soil knows how to do is crack open seed and produce whatever is IN it! What many Christians do is sow apple seed, but then pray for oranges. This does not work. You can pray all you want, but whatever you sow is what you are going to reap (Gal 6:7). The soil doesn’t discriminate. It simply receives whatever you sow into it, it cracks open the seed, and it causes whatever is IN the seed to produce. This is the picture Jesus gives us for both His Word (seed) and the things that compete with His Word (seed). The competing seed Jesus mentioned was the cares of this world, the love of money and the lust for other things (selfish desires). If you fill your heart with these things, there will be no room for the Word to produce in your heart or your life.
- If you don’t like the harvest you have been reaping, you must check the seed you have been sowing.
- You cannot sow one thing and then pray for a different harvest. The only way to change the harvest is to change the seed. If you want different results, you must sow different seed.
- Jesus likened your heart to soil. He then painted the picture of the soil of your heart receiving the seed of the Word. If left alone, the soil of your heart will crack open the seed of the Word and cause it to produce a harvest. However, if you choose to sow competing seed into the soil of your heart — seed like the cares of this world, the love of money and the lust for other things — the soil of your heart will crack open the competing seed as well. Your heart will cause any seed you sow into it to grow. In this case the competing seed grows into weeds that choke-out the Word and keep it from producing in your life. So if you feel the like the Word of not working for you, you must evaluate what you have been sowing into the soil of your heart? What are you sowing that is competing with, and possibly even choking-out, the Word?
- God has sown His Word in your heart. God’s Word will work if you allow it to work. But if your life becomes FULL of other things, the competing seed will take priority over the Word and you will reap a harvest… it just won’t be the harvest God wanted for you. In most cases, it won’t be the harvest you wanted either.
- The soil of your heart will cause whatever seed you sow into it to grow. Whatever you allow through your eyes will be sown down in your heart. Whatever you allow through your ears will be sown down in your heart. What seeds are you actively sowing in your heart today? Are you making a conscious effort to sow God’s Word? Or do you fill your heart with “other things” on a daily basis? What is IN YOU abundantly will have to come OUT OF YOU eventually. So be careful what you allow to get into your heart! Whatever you sow, your heart will cause to grow!
- Your heart will produce whatever you sow into it. If you don’t like what’s coming OUT OF your life, then check what you are putting INTO your heart!
Closing Confession:
Father, this is a season of expectation for me. My expectation is tied to Your Word. Your Word is seed and my heart is soil. The soil of my heart will crack open whatever seed I sow into it. Therefore, I declare that I am careful to NOT sow bad seed. I carefully and prayerfully consider what I allow through my eye and ear gates. Whatever I allow in, will work its way down into the soil of my heart and my heart will cause it to produce. So I give Your Word first place in my life Father! I fill my heart with Your Word daily. I meditate and medicate Your Word day and night. This way my life becomes FULL of the harvest You desire and I get to enjoy the life I was born to live! I declare this by faith! In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
