For Sunday, January 7, 2023:
Mark 4:20 NLT, Jesus speaking: “The seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
If you only planted one kernel of corn in good soil, with plenty of water and a little fertilizer, you could easily grow a giant corn stalk with one or two ears, each yielding approximately 800 kernels. Conservatively, let’s pick 1,200 as an average yield for the two ears. Each of those 1,200 kernels is a seed that could potentially grow its own 1,200 kernels! I’ll help you with the math. Remember we started with only one kernel. In the next generation, we saw 1,200 kernels. In the next generation, the potential exponentially becomes 1,440,000!
So the question we should be asking in, “What went wrong?” Well right before this scripture, Jesus unloads a laundry list of everything that could go wrong. Some seed fell on hard ground, i.e. those with hardened hearts. Shallow soil over rock – no maturity in believers, not grounded. Surface-only Christians. Seed burned up in the hot sun; it needed a LOT more water! And some other seed fell among thorns, just as some believers fell among evil. Satan is not on holiday. He’ll do everything possible to take you off point, and he’s relentless in his pursuit of souls for his evil empire.
But some seeds fell on fertile soil and grew abundantly. Those seeds fell upon Jesus, who gave them water and tender loving care! Those loyal seeds greatly benefited the kingdom, but they couldn’t make up for the colossal crowd who abandoned ship.
Friends, we only get one life in which to get this right. Make the most of it1 Seeds being planted for the kingdom should aim for the master Jesus, with his food, water and encouragement!
Jesus is our guarantee of success! Jesus will show believers the inside of the kingdom!
Pastor Norton Lawellin
Jesus in the City Fellowship
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