SUPER SEED
Matthew 13:3-9 NKJV
3 Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
This is one of the most important of all of Jesus’ parables. The parable of the sower and the seed provides much insight into God’s Kingdom and how it operates.
Jesus tells the story of a sower who goes out and sows seed. The seed falls on four different kinds of ground. And only one type of ground produces a harvest.
Some seed fell on the wayside or the path. This seed was never absorbed into the ground, and the birds ate the seed and it produced no harvest. Some seed fell on stony ground where there was no depth of earth. The seed sprouted but did not take root. So when the sun came out hot, the seed was scorched. The third type of ground was the ground that had thorns. The thorns are weeds and they choked the seed when it sprouted, so no harvest was produced. One type of ground produced wonderfully. This good ground yielded various levels of harvest, multiples, 30, 60, and 100-fold.
When Jesus concluded this parable, He proclaimed that those who had ears to hear let them hear. Reading the rest of the chapter, we discover that the disciples did not catch on to the meaning of this parable and asked Jesus about the parable and why He even spoke to the people in parables.
Jesus would go on to explain that ears to hear was a heart condition, not a physical one. Ears to hear meant that someone had a desire to know what Jesus was saying. Many of the people who heard Jesus that day walked away and wondered what He meant. But those with ears to hear, a heart to understand what Jesus was saying, were given insight into the parable.
From this parable, we see that the seed will produce, providing it is sown on the right kind of ground. Jesus described the different kinds of ground to those who asked Him. The wayside ground were those people who never received the seed. It never had a chance to take root and so it was stolen from their hearts.
The second kind of ground, the stony ground, was the people who did not have a high level of commitment to the seed. They heard it and received God’s Word into their hearts, but when the pressure was on, when the heat was on, they gave up on the seed and did not produce a harvest.
The third type of ground was the people who had too many other priorities in their lives. The seed was received but never had a chance to grow because of the distractions of this life that choked it out. In the book of Romans chapter eight, Paul spoke of being spiritually minded versus being carnally or fleshly minded. Being fleshly minded creates a thorn patch.
But there is nothing wrong with the seed. The seed of God’s Word, the Word of the Kingdom, will produce when it is sown on good ground. Good ground receives the seed. Good ground stays committed to the seed even when the pressure comes. The good ground is not consumed with the temporary worries and concerns of this life. And good ground produces a good harvest.
APPLICATION
The good news is that if you are reading or hearing this devotional, you have ears to hear. And if you have ears to hear, you are on your way to being good ground. Stay receptive to God’s Word. Stay committed to obeying God’s Word in your life. Stay as free as you can from the worldly concerns and stuff that will not matter much when it’s all said and done. And produce a harvest of good in your life. The seed is super seed. All it needs is good ground.
PRAYER
Thank You, Lord, that You have given me Your Word, Your super seed. Your seed is producing a harvest in my life because I am good ground!