“As he was scattering seed…” (Mark 4:4 NIV)
The seed is the word of God and the primary job of the believer is seed spreading. Most places we plant seed will not produce results. Plant anyway. Much will be stolen, withered and choked out. Plant anyway. Most will produce nothing at all. Plant anyway.
Why? The good soil will more than make up for the poor soil. What the poor soul refuses or loses, the good soil receives and reproduces. But we’ll only discover it through seed casting. We are ill-equipped for soil inspection, only Jesus has full knowledge of heart condition. We will never discover good soil unless we first plant seeds.
Even good soil has degrees of goodness. We consider the yields and can label them good (thirty times), better (sixty times), and best (100 times). Some soil produces far more than other soil.
Even when we are working with good soil, we must keep in mind how we have an enemy who is always looking to steal our seed.
“As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. (Mark 4:14 NIV)
When the word is spoken, you can be sure the enemy is nearby, ready to snatch it away before it burrows into any heart. Receiving the word rightly requires meditation and application. We must repeat it. Ponder it. Memorize it – an old-fashioned and unpopular discipline for use. Memorization and meditation guard us against the devil’s pickpocketing tactics.
Valuing God’s word is important, too. We protect what we value; we treat it with regard. Here’s what I’ve noticed in 2021: we don’t have a lack of access to God’s word, it’s everywhere. I find it in my facebook feed and on wall hangings, I see it in small print on business cards and bumper stickers. It’s plastered on billboards, for heaven’s sake. And in all this excess, we stop ‘seeing’ it. God’s word has lost it’s impact on our souls because it has become so commonplace that our hearts are no longer alerted to it’s preciousness.
If we took this same word to another country – say China – we would suddenly recognize how invaluable it is. They rightly value the word because it is hard to come by. This is an area that we, too, can grow in. If we understood the great lengths that have been gone to in writing, reproducing and protecting God’s word, we may start to treasure it rightly.
“I meditate on Your precepts and consider Your ways.” (Psalm 119:15 NIV)
Lord, forgive us for taking Your word for granted. Please help us appropriately value scripture when we see it. Let us slow our soul and allow Your word to have impact on our hearts. May we receive it with reverence and priority: allowing Your word to permeate the soil of our hearts and take root in our lives. Amen.