Luke 8:11-15

“Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the Word with joy; and these have in root, who believe for a while and in time of redemption fall away. 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. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.”

I love how imagery and comparison is used so frequently throughout the Bible, it personally helps me understand and really grasp all God is trying to teach me in that verse or chapter. Verse 11 says, “the seed is the word of God” this is so powerful because without seeds in this world we would have all died off long ago before factories came out and we all started living off of the most artificial foods out there. But the “seed” in this verse, this isn’t some ordinary bean or tomato seed, no this is the seed of life, the Word of God. We need to be rooted in it and grow just like any ordinary seed wood in dirt- and I think that is one of the most beautiful things about seeds- is they come from and out of the dirt- the nasty, bug infested, walked all over, dirt- which sometimes turns into mud and that just gets all messy. What’s so amazing is- we are that dirt- that nasty sometimes smelly, filled with gross things yet God wants and does plant a seed in us- a living thing that will grow if you allow it to be rooted. For us that’s reading and being poured out into by God who uses people sometimes or even the things around us. When I seek God out before man I become closer to God and that is something that will always be there- as long as I keep working on it and moving in the direction He has laid out for me.

“then the devil comes and takes away...” that’s all the devil wants to do. Take away from us the beauty God has in us and the beauty to come. Its so tempting to see what the devil says and get caught up into our sinful natures of it- because it’s natural for us but its never a good thing- for me it’s my head- I have battles within my head constantly- about past events and trials now and its just a very scary place most of the time. But to have and know that even that- whatever battle is going on in my head has already been won and Jesus already gave it all, so I am able to live freely in Him is so beautiful in of itself.

In the next verse it talks about how some, get fed the seed but do nothing with it “the ones on the rock”. After I walked away I see it as this. I had roots but then I allowed this rock to form over them and then when seeded again- it could not grow or be rooted into anything. Because of past events and trials within trials I was doing it all on my own- with my own strength… and as you can tell and have seen it didn’t work out that great for me. I wasn’t able to let go of my past mistakes and sins and move forward which is all God asks of us after we receive and make Him our leader and God.

The next seed falls into “thorns” and are bothered and “chocked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life…” I’m a feeler- an observer- a pleaser. And having this as something I thrive off of gets me into the places of being completely drained when I do it all on my own. The world is full of thorns and takers. I went into the world after being saved thinking I had to do just that- take care of and give all I have to make sure everyone knows they are loved by a king- but then I started to become their king and I enjoyed it. I was everyone’s go-to person for literally anything and everything under the sun. I became nothing after and became this hopeless, pride baring, wall building self of a person. I became my own king and couldn’t get myself out of the walls I built up. I wasn’t being used to glorify God and in the end brought “no fruit to maturity” but instead choked my own self out by the thorns and ways of the world.

It says in verse 15 “But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.” PATIENCE- with all things we are called to have PATIENCE. And I know for me this is where I get myself into trouble because everything I used to do got done right there and then and then when I didn’t feel as though God was “as far along with me, or not able to keep up” (which is far from the truth) I would do it in my own power which yet again leads me into failure. Keeping a good heart about things and understanding life doesn’t go as we perceive or have it planned out to go is most likely (if you have given it all over to God) most likely a good thing because I know if I had kept on pushing on with myself and only with myself I wouldn’t be here today- and that is just blowing my mind- that God opened so many doors, made me look and search out so many things but I always turned my eyes on what I thought was “easier” ways of going- until I hit a breaking point again and knew I needed to get away for longer than just a week from the people and things consuming me. I lived by wherever the road took me that’s where I’m at. But God has such a bigger and better plan for me and everyone of you and that starts here right now. You allowing Him to plant that seed and be rooted in you.