Mark 4:2(NIV)
2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.
Mark 4:13 (NIV)
13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word.
Jesus compares the word to a seed, now a seed is a very interesting thing. When you look at it from the natural perspective there is not much to see or fascinate you about it in fact, it’s just one tiny thing. On the inside is where life and multiplication is hidden but all that depends on where the seed is sown and the climatic conditions. It is said that you can count the number of apple trees in a forest but only God can count the number of apple trees in an apple seed.
If the word of God is the seed then it means it has the power to multiply and bear fruit in our lives but that depends on where it is sown. One thing that is evident in the parable of the sower is that there is nothing wrong with the seed, it is perfect. What it produces depends on the kind of ground that it is sown into.
I am reminded of what God told Joshua in
Joshua 1:8 (NIV)
8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Even for Joshua, the word was perfect. It all depended on what he did with it. Every week in our churches we hear the word and interestingly the effect in the lives of the hearers is very different because of the state of their hearts.
This word just like a seed has life and multiplication hidden on the inside of it. In the same way you can leave a seed in a jar and it remains lifeless for years, so can the word. It can remain on your shelf lifeless. If you pick that one seed and place it in some good soil then it will bear fruit and soon enough that one seed can produce enough to sustain you. The same applies to the word. Remember;
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a]may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
You have the seed, what will you do with it?
