- Marriage of Seed and Soil -
The Dream from Hearing to Harvest
“What is my purpose? How can I thrive???”
From over the desk, my Dad handed me a package of carrot seeds. “I want you to plant these.” A picture began germinating. My eight year-old legs carried me out into the evening air, past the old barn-yard fence line and the metal trough that had stood there since we moved to that 1900’s farmhouse. Clueless, my mind pondered where I would plant these tiny seeds! At long last, I decided to dig near the posts along the pasture road – that way I could find my carrots amid the tall grass. The ground was very hard and heavy. I worked up a sweat just getting the Queen Anne’s Lace and Fescue dug out enough to drop in a few seeds. This was my first time planting anything, and I wanted to bury as many “carrots” as possible! When I finally left the seed buried beneath the ruffled dry ground, dusk had settled softly. The tall grasses seemed to wave their goodbyes in the night breeze as my feet retraced the path. In my mind, I pictured the biggest, orange tubers that had ever been grown as I would dig them up! After all… Mom planted tomato seeds and we’d harvest the biggest, red tomatoes… what was the difference?
The problem was this… I did not understand the role of the ground when it came to the marriage of seed and soil. Without understanding this one principle, many people have examined the soil of their lives to find no carrots… only fescue and disappointment. FAILURE spelled in tall weeds growing thicker. Collage, relationships, marriage, finances, health... purpose, direction - and identity itself.
You may be asking, “Where are you writing with this?”
I will be straight to the point… Just as there is a way to successfully grow vegetables, there is also a core principle to 1. Finding stability and purpose 2. Hearing the voice of God, and 3. Bringing a harvest of success in your life. (from seed to tangible harvest)
The parable of the seed and the soil… It is so core that Jesus basically told His disciples paraphrased, “If you do not understand it, how will you understand anything else I say?” (Mark 4:13) And He explained it to them:
Luke 8:11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.”
And your heart is the ground. Luke 8:15 “But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who: having heard the word (seed) with an honest and good heart, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”
How does it all work?
In the natural, for example: you may sow your wildflowers, scattering them across the soil. And plant your tomatoes in rows. But unless the ground and the seed become one, there will be no harvest... The picture on the package and the promise of that fruit are dependant on the ground - not the seed after it is sown. That small seed is so powerful… inside it, is everything needed to produce what is desired and needed by the farmer.
Hold that thought and look at it from yet another angle: For your heart, the ground, that image of fruit is always bigger than what you could ever produce of yourself. The harvest is always bigger than what the soil can ever do alone. Ultimately, the ground needs the seed and the seed needs the ground. The word needs your heart and your heart needs the word. The two must unite. For God designed the soil (your heart) to accept seed .... in order to produce a harvest. This is a principle.
Do you see it? There is a lot wrapped up in that paragraph.
That picture/ dream is impossible for you otherwise. It's to big, to special, to expensive, to rare in life, to hard, etc... At some point, your heart has to accept and become one with the word that God planted there. No more trying to reason the dream out with your head and working in anxiety to make it happen - that's like the ground trying to produce a tomato without the seed! Oh wake up! There is a spiritual law here just like gravity is a physical law! This is the key!!! What has God told you? Everything regarding that dream becomes possible when your heart unites as one with the spoken or written word of God. It's only a matter of time after that.
Side note... The Holy Spirit hovers waiting to manifest every word of God (see Genesis 1:1-3) even as water causes seeds to germinate, activating all the pieces inside so that a tomato is formed where there was no tomato before.
So then, How does the marriage take place between God's word and my heart? Trust! Or in other words, faith. Faith is not drummed up. It comes... by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). How much time do you spend hearing the word (written/spoken) and then acting on what you heard? No time, no trust, no faith, no harvest.
* Finally, some of you may be thinking? I don't even know what my purpose is, and I don't even know if I have heard God? First, have you ever given the ground of your heart to Jesus? He ransomed His life to buy that field back. (Matthew 13:44) If you have not given your heart to Jesus, that ground belongs to Satan by default - because of sin (see Romans 6:16). If sin is the master of your heart, your ground cannot have real peace but will produce horrible weeds of poison and destruction in your life. You don't threaten a friend - you warn him so that he will succeed. Call on the name of Jesus and He will save your heart (that ground) and make something beautiful with it! (Romans 10:9-13)
* Now, to the Christian, if the ground of your heart does belong to Jesus you are the sheep of His pasture and He Himself said: "My sheep hear My voice..." John 10:27 You have the ability to hear. AND He has called you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit in your life (John 15:16). What fruit is He wanting to grow? Go... spend time in the Word... this is the start for everything that will follow. In bearing that fruit, you will find your laughing place, your satisfaction, and fulfillment! A full garden, as the barren places become less and less in your life!
Ultimately, the bottom line is…You cannot produce the desired harvest without the seed of God's WORD. And the seed cannot produce a crop without the unity of your soil. God's word and your heart... the two must unite for a successful harvest in any given area of your life. This is a principle.
I want to dig in this a little more in the future articles…
1. How does the marriage of seed and soil takes place?
2. What prevents or chokes the marriage?
3. And I want to look at the soil, itself as it is a key issue. The ground/ heart can be changed and cultivated for better results.
4. What does the Holy Spirit's function have to do with the Harvest? (See article "The Spirit's Ministry in Connection to Hearing God")
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