In working with The Jesus Alliance I have encountered basically four types of people. I was discussing this with my wife and told her that they remind me of the parable told by Jesus about receiving the word of God and that I believe it also applies to doing the work of God.
In Mark chapter 4 beginning in verse 3 Jesus said: “Hear this! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the road, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain. And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” He added, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”
Jesus often spoke in parables so that ordinary people could understand the simple truths of His profound messages. In this parable most of His audience were agrarian or knew agriculture intimately so He spoke of something readily understood by the people of that culture. He makes the point that the word of God is dispensed to all as though widely sowing seed. Sadly though, of the many that hear the word of the gospel, few receive it, so as to bring forth fruit.
A little further into this Scripture Jesus explained each scenario so that there could be no mistake.
- “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.”
- “The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away
- And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
- “And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”
So do not be discouraged if your efforts are met with more who refuse to do the work of God than those who embrace it. Jesus has already told us and according to this, three out of four fall away. Satan whispers false doctrine in someone’s ear and they fall in love with the sin of their choice; one gets all excited and ready to rock the world and at the first hint of trouble or anti-Christian peer pressure slinks away; one will be so involved with the trappings of this world, (that next business deal, soccer mom stuff, golfing, boating, bar hopping or whatever), that they produce nothing.
Ughhh . . . I hate the thought of so many folks who fall away…
But, let us not wane in our enthusiasm this is a brand new year and you can write your book any way you want. Produce some fruit as in helping lost souls find the joy of Jesus this year and be mightily blessed. Why not set a goal to attend church every Sunday this year and bring someone new with you without fail.
Have a great weekend and go to Honey Lake Church, (or somewhere) on Sunday and start the year off right. By the way don’t forget that we have Jen Harris on the 11th of January for our second Sunday worldwide ministry event. Be sure and bring a friend she has the best testimony I’ve ever heard!
Matt. 7:19
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “So then, you will know them by their fruits . . .
January 2, 2015 – Click here to listen