The church needs to wake up and realise that the Devil wants to steal away all the blessings of God from our lives. We need to constantly remind ourselves that this life is not a Holiday Camp, but a ‘War Zone’. There is a battle going on with the Devil using many tactics to rob the Church of blessings. Some of His methods are mentioned in the parable of the ‘Sower and the Seed.’ Jesus said that this was a very important parable and if we didn’t understand this parable then how will we understand the other parables. Mark 4:13
“Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow. v4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up....... v8 “And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.” Mark 4:3-4,8
Jesus often spoke to the people in parables. A parable is an earthly message with a heavenly meaning. The disciples themselves didn't always understand what the message meant, but when they went to Jesus afterwards, He would always explain it to them.
God doesn't make everything plain to us all the time, for it does us good to seek Him out for an answer. He wants us to search Him out and not just expect things to be handed to us on a plate. If everything were made plain all the time then we wouldn't grow strong. It's like parents who spoil their children, by making life easy for them, those children end up being entitled. We need difficulties to make us strong, just like a weight lifter uses heavier and heavier weights to build up his muscles, so do we need to push through and search out our God. It’s an honour for us to search Him out.
“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.” Proverbs 25:2
We as His Kings and Priests have the privilege of seeking out the deeper things of God. We see from the teachings in this parable, that we have the potential to bring forth a 100 fold harvest. Naturally the Devil doesn’t want this kind of harvest to happen in our lives.
“Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.” Mark 4:3-4
We are the sower spoken of here. The seed is the word, that is sown in the ground of our hearts, and birds are working for the Devil snatching away the seed.
“The sower sows the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan comes immediately, and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.” Mark 4:14-15
The way to have a 100-fold harvest in our lives depends on the seed that we sow and where it eventually ends up. God's desire is that it gets into our hearts (the ground). But we see from the parable that it doesn't always get there. Satan doesn't want the word to take root in our hearts, so He comes immediately to snatch it away. "Immediately." Even before a Church Service is over He will come and try and take it away while it is still small. He knows that we become dangerous when we begin to believe the word of God. A seed is far easier to take out of the ground when it’s small than when it is a tree. The longer the seed is in there, the harder it is for Him to get it out. Satan knows this and that is why He comes ‘immediately’ to snatch it away. We see there is a urgency to believe the word and hide it in our hearts.
The Communists knew how dangerous the word was to a young hearts and would not allow children to hear the word of God. They didn't mind older people going to church, but not the young. The older you get the more set you become in your ways and the harder your heart are to change. There is a saying, ‘It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks.’ When the word gets into your heart it has the potential to produce a 100 fold harvest. The Devil doesn't mind the word getting into your head so much, but when it’s in your heart, and you actually believe it, it’s a problem for him.
Today there are ‘men of the cloth’ and so-called Christians who have memorised the bible but they are not saved. That’s because they don't believe it with all their hearts. The Devil stole away the word from their hearts, and filled them with lots of doubts.
“The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
Satan’s mission is to steal everything that is good in you and if you let Him, He would even steal away your salvation. Christ has come to give us life and wants to give us all of Canaan Land and not just part of it. Many Christians are being short-changed by the Devil and don't know what God’s will is for them. Jesus wants you set free from every bad habit, sin and weight that hinders us from experiencing this abundant life.
It’s like the true story of the man who travelled alone by sea from Europe to America early in the last century. He was poor and had saved up every last penny to buy a ticket. He had nothing left for anything else, but was just thankful to be going to the ‘Promised Land’ of America. He got a supply of crackers and cheese for the journey. It found it hard to go past the dining room every day and see all the people eating all that good food. But he consoled himself by saying that at least he was able to go to this new land of opportunity. When the journey was over the steward asked him why he didn’t join them for meals. He said that he couldn't afford it, and only had enough money for the trip, nothing more. The steward was amazed and declared to the man that the food in the dining hall was all included in the ticket. He could have eaten well every day on the journey instead of half starving himself.
Many Christians are like this too on their road to heaven. The Devil robs them by making them think small instead of big. They live on the scraps of God instead of eating well at the Captain's Table.
The reason why the seed was easily taken by the birds was because the ground was trodden down or uncared for, becoming hard. Many of our hearts are like this too, as the cares and hurts of this life have hardened us, so we put up walls to protect ourselves. We put shields in place to guard us from being hurt, and the word can't get in, so the enemy finds it easy to steal from us. The answer is to plough up our hearts.
“Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” Hosea 10:12
We can break up the ground of our hearts by praising God in all things, and with prayer, fasting and meditation. A good way to break up your heart is to praise God when things go wrong and not just when all is well. It hurts to do this, but is very effective. We need to push the word in and keep it there.
I have discovered that if you don’t value the word of God then it’s easy for the Devil to steal it away.
“The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence is man’s precious possession.” Proverbs 12:27
So often God speaks to us in a sermon or in the bible. He gives us something to hide in our hearts but we don’t value it. We immediately go and do something else without writing it down or meditating on the truth, (roasting and eating it). The information of the world is far more precious to us, and the word ends up taking 2nd place. It’s not precious to us so the Devil finds it easy to steal it away. If something is precious to you, you will guard it constantly against thieves. Sadly the truths of the bible are not precious to so many Christians and we wonder why we are sick, sad and poor.
As I said earlier we are in a War Zone and need to hold on to all God has given to us, for the Devil is on a mission to take our land and all we possess and we mustn’t be ignorant of His devices. I want to leave you with these 2 verses.
“But that which you have already hold fast till I come.” Revelation 2:25
“Hold fast that which thou have, that no man take thy crown.” Revelation 3:11