Growing up I loved preparing a garden with my grandparents. The planting of seeds was always exciting to me because I know in time they would produce some very good food. It’s simple; you can’t have a garden without planting a seed. In the natural realm we’d laugh at people expecting a crop without planting seed. The spiritual realm works the same way. We MUST plant a seed to have a harvest. Since the Kingdom operates out of the principle of seeds and the Word is the seed, we must be Word-minded people, meditating and planting these seeds instead of the world’s seeds.
The truth is that every word you hear is a seed; you are either planting life or death. Proverbs tells us, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21). Paying more attention to what the world says, what the media says, what the TV says will only give you death. If you continually plant those seeds, then of course you will live in fear and unrest. Paul said in Romans, “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). In other words, to be carnally minded, controlled by the natural, will kill you. If you want peace you have to sow it. If you want intimacy with God, you have to sow it.
You get what you plant. Whatever you plant is what will be released and grow in your life. This is why we must be intentional about what we plant because the harvest comes from those seeds. By looking at what is being reaped in our lives, we know what was previously sown. The Bible says, “you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God” (I Peter 1:23). The Word is incorruptible seed, it works each and every time, and every word contains life in itself! Everything you need is in God’s word in seed form. If you plant it and mix it with faith, you will see results (Hebrews 4:2). The Word mixed with faith will produce a supernatural God kind of life overtaking any situation you face. But to have a harvest you must plant a seed otherwise you will get weeds.
If you want to change your life you must change the way you think. This is an amazing truth. Proverbs 23:7 says as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. The core of what we believe will be evident in our lives. Changing our thinking will change our lives. This is why we must renew our mind by the Word of God (Romans 12:2), so God’s truth will be evident. This theme runs throughout the scripture.
Proverbs tells us, “My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:20-23).
Peter tells us, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (II Peter 1:3-4).
Isaiah said, “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you” (Isaiah 26:3) or as the Amplified puts it, “You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You” (Isaiah 26:3 AMP).
Meditating on the Word, planting seeds of life will give you peace. Sowing God’s word and His thoughts about how to live and how to have a relationship with Him will naturally over take you and change your thoughts, your behavior and your life. Because this is a Kingdom principle, it is the same principle that grass, trees and people come from. You’ll never get a crop unless you plant a seed.
Believers can harness the principle of the planting seeds as agents of change. If you haven’t been bearing fruit from your relationship with God, then start planting the seeds to do it. Intimacy comes through knowing who God is. And God has revealed Himself through Jesus and through the scriptures (Hebrews 1:1-4; II Peter 1:3-4). This is the way He has designed this relationship to function; you can’t shortchange it in some other way. This Sunday at South Side we begin a new summer series entitled “Kingdom Seeds.” We will look at four seeds that will absolutely change your life for the better. Worship begins at 10:45, and we would love to have you worship with us!
In Christ,
Barry Pettit
Sr. Minister
South Side Church or Christ
www.southsidewch.com
