Sorting Seeds

“The sower sows the word. And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.  And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” Mark 4:14-20

“Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” 2 Corinthians 9:6

Halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole, deep inside a mountain on the island of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago, more than one million seeds from across the globe are stored in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. This secure facility protects the world’s largest backup collection of seed samples of essential food crops and plant species from factors and forces, natural and manmade, that can alter the composition or viability of seeds in the environment. Unless they are retrieved by the nations that stored them, they remain sealed and frozen in crates in the permafrost. (Sources: Norway Government, Wikipedia)

There are many seeds available for us to sort and stow. Some are good and worthwhile, some bad and destructive. We always have a choice.

We’ve all been entrusted with the potent seed of God’s word, and it is not meant to be stored away dormant, or put on frozen hold, but hidden deep in receptive hearts to grow and break forth in a life of righteousness. Its viability and fruitfulness depends on our heart condition and will. (Psalm 119:11)

How carefully do we prepare for and tend God’s good and generous seed- His changeless truth, His holy desires? Are we diligent to remove stones of resistance or sin habits that would inhibit growth? How thoughtfully do we distinguish between thorns and truth? Do we deliberately avoid or extinguish what chokes, and nurture what promotes multiplication?

Against what seeds should we guard? Many pesky kernels of doubt, lies, dissension, and anxiety flit on the culture’s winds, ready to settle and take root on fertile soil of mind and heart. Have we established spiritual safeguards? Have we intentionally educated ourselves and protected our will and heart space with God’s armor? Do we know the truth well enough to recognize the counterfeit and false, and are we strong enough to eschew its enticements? (Ephesians 6:10-18; Hebrews 12:15)

Selecting and sowing God’s seeds take time and effort. Bearing fruit and multiplying for Him is what we were made for. A spiritual harvest is always worth the glory God receives. (Genesis 1:27-28; James 5:7)

Good Father, give me wisdom to sort and diligence to plant good seeds, sowing always to please Your Spirit, not my flesh. May I produce much fruit of righteousness for the blessing of others and delight of You. (Ecclesiastes 11:6; John 15:16; 2 Corinthians 9:10; Galatians 5:22-23; 6:8)