Which Seed Are You Feeding?
“Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.” Luke 8:14 NKJV
After Jesus had spoken to the masses regarding the parable of the sower, the disciples asked Jesus to explain the parable to them. Recall that in the parable Jesus described the four types of soil in which a seed could be planted. Three of the soil types failed to produce a harvest from the seed planted while only one type of soil was able to result in a harvest. One of those failed types of soil was full of thorns.
The seed, of course, is the Word of God and too often we fail to get the results in our life that the seed promises because we have not tended our soil properly. Jesus explains that the seed that fell among thorns are chocked off and never allowed to grow to a maturity which will allow it to produce the promise of the Word. The thorns speak of the weeds and things that take nutrients and water from the soil, robbing the seed of life the opportunity to grow and mature.
The thorns and the weeds are partially identified for us in Jesus’ explanation as being the cares of the world or the things of the world. If I have planted the seed of the Word in my heart but allow the cares and worries of the world to grow up in my heart, it will result in the choking off the results the Word would bring.
This is what happens when I allow my own fears, cares and worries to be the focal point of my thoughts. I am actually feeding the weeds or the fears and not the seed. I am taking the life and strength away from the Word I planted and instead I am diverting it all to the weeds. The result is that the cares and fears will grow while at the same time the Word or the seed is weakened in the soil of my heart.
When we focus on the problem or the worries of life we are feeding them, which is why it is important to look away from the problems and make a concerted effort to look at Jesus and His promises. This strengthens the seed of the Word in our hearts and, given continued attention and time, that seed will produce first the blade, then the leaf, then the head, the kernel in the head and then harvest time is upon us. It is then that we will be able to harvest the potential of the seed that we originally planted.
J Todd Hostetler