How to miss fruitfulness...
Apologies - I wrote this yesterday and then COMPLETELY forgot to send it!
| The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop--thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown." (Mark4:14-20) |
Last week we looked at how powerful the seed is.
But there is time between sowing and final reaping.
During that time, the seed (or plant) is fragile and can be affected.
There are short, medium, and long-term threats for the seed.
In the short term, the seed could land on a hard-packed path.
This is when we procrastinate, trivialise, or intellectualise the Word we have heard.
Sometimes we procrastinate when we sense God knocking or prompting: "I'll deal with it later, I'm just too busy right now..."
There is also the possibility that we trivialise or intellectualise what we have heard: "Ah, that's for someone else," or "Hmmm, that's a great thought... let me write it down and think about it some more."
Then the distractions come, and before we know it, the seed is gone.
In the medium term, the seed could land on rocky soil.
This is when we jump into it and don't count the cost.
We run on emotions and the energy of others, but we don't see it through.
We rush into it and don't let the roots go deep.
Often, this happens when we are trying to live for others instead of drawing near to God and hearing what He wants us to be doing.
When the going gets tough, we run out of steam; all because our roots (motivations) were not deep enough.
In the long term, the seed lands in thorny ground.
This is when the seed has great potential to grow.
The soil is good, the roots have sprouted and gone deep - but there are invaders.
There is competition for our attention, affection, and loyalty.
Someone said: "The more I gather, the more I have to protect, and the more I have to lose."
The weeds are clever. They start small and grow quietly, but before we know it, our time, energy and money flow endlessly into things that will not last - and we find it very difficult to focus on the things that do last for eternity.
You'll notice that I've used "we" throughout.
I don't think the parable is only about the seed of the gospel.
As Jesus says: "The seed is the Word."
Every time God speaks to us: every time He calls us to make a course correction, help a neighbour, follow a prompting, or pray for someone - it is a seed being sown.
The key question is: What kind of soil will that seed fall into?
