The Word

THE WORD

Key Verse:

"The seed is the word of God." Luke 8:11 (NIV)

Revelation

In Luke 8:10, Jesus says, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.” In the moment, He was speaking to His disciples. Yet God ensured that these words were recorded for us to read. Are we His disciples? Then be encouraged today that it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.

The key that unlocks those treasures is found in our key verse, Luke 8:11. Jesus tells the Parable of the Sower and then explains to His disciples the seed in the parable is the word of God. How profound that the Word made flesh was the One speaking to them and declaring this truth about Himself. It has been given to us to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God by knowing His Son. Yet it is much more than a simple awareness of who Jesus is. As the parable shows, the seed must take deep root in fertile soil.

What does your fruit look like? I don’t need to see the seed when you plant your garden, to know what you planted. If I stop by and see cucumbers, I’ll know you planted cucumbers. There’s no pretending. You can insist that you planted tomatoes, but if I see cucumbers, I’ll know you didn’t plant tomatoes. The fruit in your garden tells what you planted.

The spiritual fruit of our lives reveals what we believe about Jesus. The fruit of the spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control - will only be in our lives to the extent that we are planting the Seed. Our fruit doesn’t tell what we know about Jesus. Rather, it tells what we truly believe about Him deep down. In the Parable of the Sower, we see the results of lives lived with the knowledge of Jesus that didn’t penetrate deeply – withered, sun-scorched plants, seeds that are devoured before taking any root at all, and plants choked by thorns. Note that the

Seed, the One, fell on every type of ground. Yet it only bore abundant fruit in good soil where it was cultivated intentionally.

In verse 15, Jesus said that the ones who bore fruit did so through patience. In our fast-paced lives, is it possible to rip out the thorns, dig through the rocks, and till up soil to let the Word go deep and then wait while the Seed germinates and grows? The notion of multi-tasking is false; we can only focus on one thing at a time. What will 2019 look like if we start now to make our focus on Jesus, the One, to till the soil aggressively and uproot the thorns until there’s nothing left but the One Seed? If we will do so, I believe that we haven’t imagined the fruit that we can bear.

PRAYER

Lord, thank You that Your Seed is incorruptible and stands forever. Thank You that Your Word became flesh and dwelled among us. Thank You for enabling us to focus on Your Word and to let the knowledge about Jesus become deep-rooted belief as You reveal mysteries about Your Kingdom, and that our lives bear fruit for Your glory.

In Jesus' name, Amen

Questions

Examine your life fruit in comparison to what you desire to see. Does it match?

Are you willing to confront the areas where you know you don't believe strongly and let God work in you to make that part of your life fruitful?