A Seed Will Split a Rock
Kingdom Principle: Seeds; Part V
Locate in Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20; Luke 8:4-15
We were discussing the Parable of the Sower of the Seed recently in the Bible study I attend. A friend observed when running through the trail system in our community, he’s noticed seeds that have sprouted through the asphalt. He marveled at how this happens.
To the natural it seems backwards that a small seed can embed itself into a dry arid place such as concrete or a rock and start to grow. However the growth process is more dependent on the surrounding conditions than the seed itself. The seed will always work because of the power contained inside. Just as in the case of a seed growing out of a crack in the trail, when we plant the Word of God in our lives it has the power to split the hardest of hearts. It can grow and produce through the rubble and strongholds in our lives. A seed will split a rock!
The Word of God is Alive and Active
“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
The Word that God speaks is alive and full of power, which makes it effective. It can judge, expose and reveal the very thoughts and purposes of our hearts. And in the same way, it has the power to replace our worldviews with God’s truth when we receive and let the seed take root.
This is because God watches to makes sure His Word produces. He told Isaiah, “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11). He told the prophet Jeremiah “I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled” (Jeremiah 1:12b). He told him that the Words He gave him to speak to the people would tear down, destroy, overthrow, build and plant and then placed the weight of fulfillment on His shoulders not Jeremiah’s (Jeremiah 1:10).
There is a powerful truth in this idea. God’s Word will work because He watches to make sure it is fulfilled. Planting His word in our heart as an element of change is essential for the believer. Paul said that this has the power to pull down strongholds and make every thought captive that sets itself up against the knowledge of God (II Corinthians 10:3-5). When applying this principle then, God’s seed can split and crack the hardest places in our lives and change begins.
Everything you need is in God’s Word in seed form. If you plant it and mix it with faith, you will see results (Hebrews 4:2). The Word mixed with faith will produce supernaturally because of this principle of the seed. The trick is planting the seed; Paul told us, “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).
The Word always works because the seed being planted is incorruptible. “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.”And this is the word that was preached to you” (I Peter 1:23-25).
Applying the principle of the seed guarantees success and progress in the kingdom of God, it guarantees result. In fact the Word is never the problem; it is how people react to it. It is always the condition of the soil that makes a difference in the harvest. However this truth remains; a seed has the power to penetrate the hard places in our lives, break them open, start to grow and change us as result.
Next we look at the four types of soil and how to cultivate and condition our hearts to be receptive to the seed.
Join me for Part VI; ‘The Seed Sown Along The Path'.