Find our way thought the Wilderness

New International Version (NIV)

Matthew 13

The Parable of the Sower

 ¹ That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. ² Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. ³ Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. ⁹ Whoever has ears, let them hear."

Day Thirty-One

Become rooted in the good soil

I am not a farmer however I do know that their livelihood depends on the quantity and quality of the crops they produce. Also a large part of their results are based on how good the soil is where they planted their seeds. That is about as far as my agricultural knowledge goes, however it is all that we need to translate this to our spiritual lives.

In the text above Jesus is talking to a crowd of people and He is speaking in a parable, which is what He usually did when he spoke to a crowd. He told them a parable about a farmer that went out to sow (plant) his seeds. To the crowd Jesus only said that some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Later on after the crowd had dispersed He explained to his disciples that this seed were people that hears the message of the kingdom and do not understand it, the enemy then comes and snatches it away from them before it a can take root.

Then Jesus said to the crowd that some of the seeds fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil and those seeds sprang up plants quickly, however when the sun came up they were scorched and they withered because they had no root. To His disciples explain that this was about people who hear the word and instantly receive it with joy. However since they are not rooted in word when trouble and hard times comes they quickly fall away.

Jesus continued telling the crowd that some of the farmer's seed fell among the thorns which grow up and choked the plants. Later He explained to His disciples that these were people who hear the word and receive it but the worries of this world and the deceitfulness of wealth chokes it out of them.

Let us take a look at that verse for a moment. First understand that here unfruitful means not being able to produce more of what was giving. So when Jesus said that the worries of this life can make us unfruitful was He telling us that when we worry we can't produce for God? Yes and no. Worrying is a natural human emotion that we all have. The more we try to fight worrying the more we will, for lack of a better word, worry about it. What Jesus is saying that we should cast our worries to the Lord whenever they come so that we can focus on being a good plant and produce. Like we said on day four, Don't Worry, when we worry we are separating ourselves from God.

Secondly, notice that Jesus said the deceitfulness of wealth. This confirms that our true wealth awaits us in heaven so we distance ourselves from the kingdom when we are preoccupied with chasing wealth here on earth. Yes God wants you to live an abundant life but we need to understand that we can live that life with or without riches and wealth.

Jesus finished His story to the crowd by telling them of the seeds that fell on good soil. These seeds produced a good crop a hundred sixty or thirty times what was originally sown. He later told his disciples that these were people that heard the word and understood it. They were rooted in the word enough that when storms came they were able to withstand it. When the enemy came and tried to snatch the word away by causing destruction and confusion; he could not take it because the word was rooted in their hearts. These people did not let the cares or worries of this world cause them to falter because they know that though they had to endure pain and grieve in this world, joy and eternal comfort was waiting for them on the other side.

    We need to take a look at ourselves and asked this question, if God were to come today and cultivate the seeds that He sown in us what would He find? Would He find that His seeds had hit the pavement, rocky ground, thorns, or good soil?

Having good soils is the only way we are able to produce for Him. And the only way that we can have good soil is if we are rooted in the Word of the Lord.

Each day that we spend study, reading, and absorbing the word of God, the more we move out of our wilderness and closer to our Promised Land!

Please join us tomorrow as we continue our journey. Until then God Bless.