279. The Seed of Life

Jesus sat in a boat and taught the people standing on the shore. And He said to them in His teaching: “Listen! Behold.” Mark 4:2-3.

Everything in the kingdom of God revolves around: “Listen!” “Look!” “Watch!” “Pray!” We are so inclined to watch and listen to everything around us—everything on the earth—this shows that we are not dead. The resurrection life, however, has the earth beneath its feet. In order to be able to hear the Spirit’s voice, we need to close our ears for all that is of this earth, and if we want to see with anointed eyes, we must close our eyes to all this world’s glory. He who loses his life will find life.

“A sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.”

The sower sows the word. Verse 14. The word is the heavenly seed, and its purpose is to make the kingdom of heaven grow. This word possesses a conquering power because the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. In this parable, however, the seed fell by the wayside. The people heard the word and received it; but Satan immediately came and took away the word from them. Verse 15. Thus he takes away the sprouting seed that was intended to crush the serpent’s head, and this is a relatively easy task for him if a person’s heart is as hard as a country road. The same applied to those who received the word on stony ground: when they heard the word, they immediately received it with gladness, but they had no root in themselves. So when persecution arose for the word’s sake, they fell away. And some seed fell among thorns, but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choked the word, and it did not bear fruit.

We need to be extremely careful to protect the word that has been sown in our hearts! Endure whatever you must for the sake of the Word. Keep the commandments for the sake of the Word. Choose rather to suffer evil than allow your soul to be damaged. The seed from heaven is smaller than all the other seeds, but it comes from heaven. Everything else is of the earth. What comes from heaven is greater than what is on the earth, even if it is as small as a mustard seed. Protect this little seed, and allow it to become flesh, just as the Master did. Don’t allow the stony ground of a hard heart to overcome you, so you allow the heavenly life to dry up. Don’t let anxiety and greed choke this divine seed of life that is yours.

“But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

The hearts of such people have been furrowed. The tribulations of life have plowed their hearts in every direction, so their hearts have become fertile ground for the heavenly seed. They have watched over the word in their heart; they have kept the commandments and have borne the reproach of this world. The seduction of riches has not succeeded in corrupting them, neither has any other form of idolatry. There are those who have watched over their lives and borne sixtyfold, and yet others have watched and prayed, and exercised faithfulness up to a hundredfold.

Therefore: Look! Listen! Watch and Pray! The devil prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, and his aim is to devour the male child who will rule the nations with a rod of iron. This male child, which is Christ’s life in you, is the one that Satan wants to destroy. So do not allow yourself to be dismayed or offended by anything or anyone who resists the Word, or by anything or anyone who would devour it. The Word is the resurrection life: it is like the woman in Revelation “clothed with the sun of righteousness, and with the moon under her feet.” Rev. 12. The sun shines for the children of the day, but the moon for the children of the night. If we want to have the moon beneath our feet, we must keep the Word and obey it. The light of the moon can be likened to the light of the law. But the light of the sun is as the light of revelation that comes to sight when a person has been faithful to the light of the moon, for the law is our tutor to bring us to Christ.

Therefore faithfulness, and even more faithfulness is the key. “You were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord,” Jesus says.