I am not sure if you have done Gardening in your life, the Joy of planting a seed and seeing it germinate and grow is a different experience, the waiting time every day to see how the Plant gives leaves, flowers and fruits is always exciting like how a baby grows. It’s a joyful and awesome feeling that cannot be described with words. Likewise when the plant is infected by any bugs or weeds we also suffer along with that..
Likewise Jesus Explains a “Parable of Sower” in Luke 8, He tells the parable and the disciples did not understand this and ask him what it meant.
Luke 8:4-8 'While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” '
When you read thru this with our layman’s wisdom, we see a story of a farmer sowing his seed in a land that has different types of terrain. It tells how the crop is grown, but finally Jesus concluded this parable as ““Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
The Disciples were confused on this statement and asked what he meant on this parable
Luke 8:9-10 'His disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “ ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’ '
When Jesus says “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” and “ ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’ ' this parable has a lot of Spiritual learnings for us a Christ followers. Looking from surface you may see this as just a story of a farmer sowing in a land.
To understand this spiritually we need to understand this parable with the context of John 10:10 and Luke 8:11-15
John 10:10 'The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. '
Luke 8:11-15 ' “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. '
There is a correlation to John 10:10 and Luke 8:11-15. The common thread here is the Devil ~ “The thief”, how he takes away the spiritual blessings from us is described by Jesus. Though this is commonly called the “parable of the sower” it could be better called “the parable of the soils”. The difference is never the seed, but on the kind of soil it lands on
There are four types of soil that Jesus refer’s, Lets look at each Soil’s Parable and Jesus explanation and John 10:10 spiritual connection to understand better.
Way Side
Luke 8:5,11-12 '“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. '
Way Side describes the heart of man who hears the word as he goes along, he is not a true believer in Christ.
He may be a person living a worldly life, When he hears the word of God thru a brother or sister of Christ or at Church or at a prayer meeting or at a convention.
Devil comes to take away the word of God from him immediately, as Devil does not want any of us to follow what God’s path or his words, he wants us to be attached to the world and live a life that leads to Sin, thats why he comes to Steal - John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal”
Now you understand the context of Jesus Saying “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”,
The “word” is a Spiritual blessing from Jesus to Man, so that you are saved by Jesus. Many times we assume Blessing is only our worldly blessing (House / Car / Big Bank account and a happy life, etc..) yes thats true, but true blessing is the Spiritual blessing coming from Jesus to a individual.
How do you protect yourself being stolen from Devil from the word ?, It’s plain and simple, just surrender to Jesus and say, Jesus I have faith in you or say I trust you master, once you confess that from your heart. He can send his angles to protect the blessings from being taken away by the Devil, once its protected the Devil cannot steal the word from you.
But that struggle from Devil does not stop after you have confessed your faith, In fact the struggles with Devil starts here, where he will fight hard to steal that again - he will deceive you / tell lies to steal the word (Blessing from God)
Unless your Faith in Jesus rooted in your heart, he will steal the word to lead you to the path of Sin. Coming to Faith is not a one time activity, its a faith you need to follow till your life ends here in earth.
Rocky Ground
Luke 8:6,13 'Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. '
Rocky Ground is where the soil is thin beneath that is a soil that is bit hard (It can be clay or stony). On this ground the seed sprang up quickly because of the warmth of the soil, but the seed was unable to take root because of the rocky soil.
When you are spiritually blessed to be Saved in Jesus name and a believer of Christ, there will be trials and temptations 1 Peter 4:13,16 'However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. But rejoice in as much as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. '
The word says we have to rejoice in suffering, but young christians (early stages of knowing Christ) after coming to faith live a dual life attached to world and Christ. Even though they have faith in Jesus they are deterred by the trails of Life and give up quickly, This is what Jesus Explains in Luke 8:10(a) ‘though seeing, they may not see;
Connecting the dots between Luke 8 / John 10:10 - what satan does is, he first tries to steal the word, he is unable to do, now what he does he gives life troubles (a sickness or any life situations of hard times) to “Kill” us from the faith of Jesus - John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and Kill”
To Overcome the Hard Soil (”Harden heart”) read the word of God daily(Bible) and Pray to Jesus, He can add more spiritual soil to make the root grow deep how he does is - he will show the sins of your life to break from them, expose the areas which are not pleasing to him. He will turn your heart to repentance to him, every day he will reveal more sins of the past and wash you by the blood of Christ and remove the roots of Sin, the old Sinful life is gone, you become a new person. Paul explains well 2 Corinthians 5:17 'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! '
Then you will start living a life to praise God for the trials as in 1 Peter 4:16 “But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. “ , during the trials, your faith with Jesus will become close, God will teach you many spiritual lessons to make you more mature in Christ.
Fertile Soil
Luke 8:7,14 'Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. '
I would say most Christians live a life of the fertile soil, They go to Church, they are spiritual but still they are worried on the life in earth and depend on their own and do not mature.
Most Christians live a life in Christ and live a life for world, there is much of hypocrisy in our life’s, we live a life “they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. “
Maturing in Christ is to have many more spiritual blessing in Christ - 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 'Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. ' these spiritual blessing produces the fruit of Spirit as described in Galatians 5:22-23 'But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. '
Maturing in Christ is not just attending church or going to Lent season convention or doing What’s App forward of verse every day does not make one more blessed in Christ. The true blessing in Christ is to depend on him in all spiritual blessings to seek him first, then the worldly needs will be given by Jesus. Matthew 6:33 'But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. '
The worries of life / riches and pleasures are the thorns in Fertile Christ life. The thorns are seeded by Satan to deceive us from getting mature in Christ and always seek our acts of flesh - self desires leading us to Sin against God Galatians 5:19-21 'The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. '
You may say brother I don’t lead a sexual immoral life, yes it may be true from our eyes, but from God’s eye a “Sin is a Sin, there is no big sin or small sin”. Does not matter if you married and are in a physical relationship with a woman or you covet a woman in your eyes with Lust. God’s standards are high for us, we cannot live a life by our own, thats why we need to mature in Christ to lead a Christ dependent life to become more holy and more sin free.
Connecting the dots between Luke 8 / John 10:10 - what satan does is he first tries to steal the word, he is unable to do, now what he does he gives life troubles (a sickness or any life situations of hard times) to “Kill” us from the faith of Jesus, still we are rooted in Christ, now he applies “destroy” destroy us with the worldly pleasures he has so that we get attracted to that and do not mature in Christ - John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy”
How can you remove the thorns of worries of life / riches and pleasures, follow what Paul says, Lay every worldly desires and things that bother you to Christ for him to direct according to his will 1 Peter 5:7-9 'Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. ', it says resist him and stay firm in Faith. You will be able to overcome him.
Good Soil
Luke 8:8,15 'Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. '
Good Soil refers to the person who lives a life according to God’s Perfect will and Obeys what God commands him, even though he struggles in the world (Pleasures of world vs. Godly commands) he lives a righteous life in God’s eyes. The righteous life full of Grace and mercy from God.
“good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart”
Noble - having or showing fine personal qualities or high moral principles of God
It can happen only if God prunes selfish behaviour and gives his righteous qualities
Can happen only when we are forgiven and under his grace and mercy of Lord Jesus
Good heart - Comes from the Lord as you hear the word, retain it, the word transforms inside out to make you a good hearted person.
Comes when your sins are forgiven and strive to run a race towards Jesus
Good heart comes as you are put to trials and temptation and overcoming with the strengths of Christ.
who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
The One who hears retains into his heart and starts to live by it, Obey’s by the words that God teaches them.
Many times the Godly obedience may defy what our world advice may say. It may make one look a looser in eyes of the world
Produce a Crop - It refers to the Spiritual blessing God gives to one and how he passes to the other people around him. Its not necessary to be material blessing to give some one with money or food or others. The spiritual blessing can be a simple prayer for others who is struggling and who needs help from God, its always assumed that its done by Pastor only, no God gave this spiritual blessing to be blessing to others, its not only for pastor, its for common people like us.
Connecting the dots between Luke 8 / John 10:10 - what satan does is he first tries to steal the word, he is unable to do, now what he does he gives life troubles (a sickness or any life situations of hard times) to “Kill” us from the faith of Jesus, still we are rooted in Christ, now he applies “destroy” destroy us with the spiritual blessing by giving the temptations of the world- John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy”
How do we overcome Satan - Surrender to God with a humility and ask God to remove the pride in you, Pride comes when we live close to God as Satan makes us feel we are superior to others around us. Remember if you have spirit of tongues - don’t feel proud that God has given that, if you have the spirit of Wisdom don’t feel proud you are able to understand the word of God. Be humble and live a life on Christ, like Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 6:9-10 'known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. '
Very hard to do this, but seek God’s help in your weakness as he says in 2 Corinthians 11:30 'If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. ', 2 Corinthians 12:10 'That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. '
Let the living water of Christ flow out of you in abundance that way you are a blessing to others who are weak in Christ.
Remember God holds very high standards during the judgement day for people who’s heart is of “Good Soil”, So live a life that strives to be more holy and pure. Remember Devil comes to “steal” our holiness, “kill” our godliness, and “destroy” our righteousness. be vigilant of him
Summary
I don’t know where you stand in life with Jesus, after reading this Jesus says ““Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” Hear his voice and turn to him, does not matter what stage you live. He is there to wash in his blood to make you more pure and holy.
Comentarios