The Mind
‘A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop-a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. (Mathew 13:3-9 NIV).
One of the important aspects of our body is the mind. The mind is a powerful tool or weapon of the body. It is the mind that receives information, digests it and once it settles in the mind, the individual takes action. And so whether we can be successful or unsuccessful in our Christian walk, it may have to do with the way our mind functions. Remember, the enemy’s plan is to destroy or open up the hedge for the Christian individual to be vulnerable and attacked.
The seed the farmer went to sow is the Word of God. The seeds that fell along the path is the position of the mind of the believer receiving the word of God. Whiles the word was being preached, the believer was absent-minded. And so he was hearing the message but it was not registering for the mind to process it to stay in his heart. It is a ploy of the devil to rob the believer of the word of God and that’s why the birds ate the seed immediately it fell along the path. If you’re troubled in the mind before entering church, put the troubles aside so you can receive the word. Imagine you spent hours worrying and the problem was never solved until you got to church. The word that can fight your troubles is what the enemy wants to rob you of and that’s why he ensured that he kept your mind busy until you entered church. The conflict in your mind is the enemy’s plan to engage your mind to get you worried to a point that you crumble- the point that your hedge is broken. So take precaution.
The word of God falling on rocky places without much soil is the believer who heard the word, received it out of excitement but because he lacks depth or deep roots to sustain the word until it matures and blossoms, he allowed the cares of the world or his worries to crash-in when his test of difficulties began. Understand that, the word of God is being sent to deal with that particular issue so allow it, let it settle and take it full course. Whiles receiving the word, understand that, you had a problem. Due to the issue you had, there is just little space for the word so push the word in to push the problem away. Conditions that you do not like such as extreme need, financial dryness, emotional misery due to the loss of a dear one, a particular person who is a thorn in your life or someone who deliberately wants to provoke you in a way to react but that little word you received is speaking silently to you to refrain.
The third group of seeds fell on thorns. These seeds fell on a good soil, evenly mixed with good seeds but grew along with thorns. It is normal to see thorns growing among plants if the garden or farmland is not properly taken care of. And so whiles the word is growing, nurture attitudes such as anger, jealousy, envy deceit and likes that has a tendency of asking questions of your Christianity. You have to diligently work on such characters if you were like that before you got born again.
Jesus said in Matthew 13:30 to allow the weeds and the plants to grow together until harvest. Why will Jesus provide that answer knowing the weeds will compete with the plant? If the problem you have is delicate and multiple, it does not require one day. It takes time and needs gradual attention. If you are quick tempered, a lot of moments will come to try your patience. If you did not allow your Christianity, would you have seen the loophole in your anger? No. So wait and come to terms with the situation. The believer needs to fight for the word of God to remain so that in trial moments, the word can fight and remain victorious. If the word is already stored, it fights the challenge when it comes. The hedge is either threatened, broken and repaired or maintained by the word.
The seed that fell on good soil is the believer who allows the word of God to settle in spite of difficulties. He does not allow the devil to steal the word, defeats the cares of this world, overcomes worries and anxieties that tries to entangle what he hears. Such believers have unrelenting spirit that forces the word in. There is reward for every hard work such that, the believer who labors to see the word grow can flourish in his finances, business, family, marriage etc. These are the areas of the believer that is affected when the word is attacked so in effect, practice of the word becomes a hedge over the finances, business, family and marital relations of the believer. The believer can be successful at different levels and that is represented in thirty, sixty and hundred folds.
