Fertilizer

The parable of the sower in Luke 8, and Mark 4:1-20 speaks much on the importance of hearing the word of God. The sower goes to the field to scatter seed, and varying conditions are presented. The seed represents the word while the ground different types of people. Essentially, the seed falling on the wrong kind of soil does not produce any harvest at all. Whether it is due to worry, superficiality or trials, the word evaporates from the hearts of these different folks. The scripture then presents us with a fourth kind of ground. Others.... hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown. (Mark 4:20 NIV)

This fourth group of people have a heart to hear the word of God, and thus produce fruit. However fruitfulness differs even among this preferred category. They all hear the same word, yet some produce 30% yield, others 60%, and yet others 100%. Have you ever wondered why this is the case? Why is it that we have similar Christian folks all listening to God’s word, yet there are differing results.
Is God a respecter of persons, favouring some over others? Definitely not. How can a believer with a heart to hear produce a harvest with a return of 100% pertaining to the word?

The answer to these questions is found in verse 24 of Mark 4. Speaking about hearing the word, Jesus instructs us to pay special attention to the word. He goes on to state that the amount of productivity we receive from the word is directly dependent on the amount of time spent in the word. The amplified elucidates this even more clearly. And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [c][of thought and study] you give [to [d]the truth you hear] will be the measure [e][of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you--and more [besides] will be given to you who hear (AMP)

For many of us, this sheds much light on a somewhat obscure scripture. God is indicating that our approach to scripture distinguishes us from other believers and may determine differing yields. In Understanding this concept is really not foreign at all, especially observing agriculture. If you have ever planted a crop, grass, or anything on multiple occasions you may notice different kinds of yield. Sometimes it may be seasonal variations, and other factors that dictate a good yield, but mostly what limits productivity is the soil fertility level. For example, you may have planted grass one year with little success, and then the next year you decide to add a little bit of fertilizer. All of a sudden your crop is acutely different. You discover that the soil, with richer nutrition is able to produce better.

So how does all this related to you personally. Jesus said the heart is like soil. Maximum productivity is of a believer is proportional to their ability to assimilate the word of God into their hearts. I trust you want to be a 100 fold producer. May I recommend that you spend ample time in the word of God? Not just reading in mass to cover as much ground as possible, but also taking the time to reflect on the meaning of what you are reading. This might mean you pause for days over a troubling passage, as you wrestle to fully be persuaded to do comply with kingdom directives. Though you might feel weak, or unable to comply with a specific standard you encounter in his word be patient and persevere. As you tackle the word in such a fashion, I believe your fertility in bearing Godly fruit will be clearly seen as fruit abounds in your life.