I said, ‘Plow new ground for yourselves, plant righteousness, and reap the blessings that your devotion to Me will produce. It is time for you to turn to me, your Lord, and I will come and pour out blessings upon you.’ Hosea 10:12 GNT
The Parable of the Sower is found in Matt. 13:18-23; Mark 4:1-20; Luke 8:4-15. Most people have heard of this parable that not only Jesus spoke, but then explained. It’s a parable of The Seed, the Word of God, and The state of the soil the Word fell on. On the surface, we see three of the four soils as non-Believers. But is that what Jesus was truly saying? When we dig a bit deeper there are words that Jesus uses to describe what happens after the Sower casts His seed on the various soils.
The first group, the Word is heard, but they just don’t get it. So they have heard the Word, but don’t understand it or believe it. Since it makes no sense to them, the enemy then comes and has them discard what they just heard. The second group hear the Word and recieve it, but don’t understand it. So when trouble comes, they don’t know how to use what they have heard and so they their new found joy turns to disappointment and they lose hope. The third group hears the Word, they understand it, but they don’t believe it, so they continue to live by the worlds standards, so they don’t produce any fruit. The fourth group, hears the Word, believes and recieves the Word and understands it! This group bears fruit, and produces 100, 60 and 30 times that was sown. Notice Jesus begins with the largest number, 100 times more, then 60, then 30, telling us that when we hear, recieve, believe and understand it we will have an amazing harvest of 100 times more and at the very least 30! This means there will always be a harvest no matter what.
Now, the Sower isn’t responsible for the seed or the soil. The Seed is filled with power and the potential to produce great things, but it has to have the correct soil in order for life and fruit to be produced. Notice all the other soils were hard and the release of life and growth were hindered and stopped. Only the soil that was plowed, turned over, oxygenated through the upheaval and minerals were released to fertilize the soil was ready to truly recieve the Seed and have its power released. This means when trials and troubles come we should see them as a plowing of our hearts, to get rid of the things in this life that harden us to recieving all that Jesus died to give us. Perhaps that’s why Luke’s Gospel says the fourth group hears, recieves, believes and understands through perseverance.
So ask yourself, which soil am I and what do I need to change to be the fourth soil? Don’t you want to ready the soils of your heart and mind so it can produce fruit and an amazing harvest of blessing and favor in your life? If your answer is yes, then decide you’re going to hear the Word, recieve it and believe it in your heart, then search to understand it and you too will see the 100, 60 and 30 time increase!
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