Matthew 13 and Planting

 

Jesus used parables to relate Heavenly truths to people in simple terms.  Jesus used planting and seeds to convey Heavenly truths in Matthew 13.

 

 

In  verses 3-23 Jesus tells the Parable of the sower and the seed. The sower sows the seed and it grows or dies based on the quality of the soil on which it falls. In Luke 8:11 Jesus tells us the key to this parable is that the seed is the word of God. I see two main truths we can learn in this passage. As sowers of the word, we can only spread the word and we cannot determine the harvest. As receives of the word, we must examine our souls to see that we are fertile ground for God's word to grow.

 

In verses 24-30, Jesus use wheat and tare to compare the lost and saved. Jesus taught that both the lost and saved are planted in this earth. They will live this earth until the time that the planter gathers the wheat into the barn. He taught that we cannot judge who is saved or lost until that time of separation.

 

In v31-32- - Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed, which is small when planted but grows into a great tree. We see that salvation comes through One (Christ) and is spread to all who will receive.

 

Matthew 17:20 - Jesus says if we have faith like a mustard seed we can move mountains. A great truth we see is that as a seed must be planted to grow so faith must be acted upon to achieve miracles.

 

Some other thoughts

 

1# - You reap what you sow. (Galatians 6:7)

2# - You reap more then you sow. (2 Corinthians 9:6)

3# - You reap after you sow. (Psalms 126:5)

4# - Reaping and sowing take time and hard work. (Psalms 126:5)

 



 

 

Principles 4 success.

     Everybody desires to be successful. Today I want to look at some Biblical principles 4 success.

     To begin we must define success. Success is hard to measure because in it simplest terms, success is accomplishing your goals. However we all have different goals.  Therefore we all measure success differently. To keep things at there base level I will compare our principles to a basic example - Washing dishes. If your goal for the next hour is to wash the dishes and you do it - you are a success. If you read blogs for the next hour, then you are a failure.

Principle #1 - Plan to succeed. You will not succeed if you expect to fail. I am not simply talking about visualizing your success either.

     Luke 14:28-30 - For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

      This passage speak of a man who built a tower but did not plan ahead enough to know how to finish it. He did not reach his goal. When setting a goal have a plan to arrive at that goal. If you are going to wash the dishes check for soap, have a place to put away the dishes and plan to complete the job. If you have no plan you will only have a dream or a ton of half finished projects.

Principle #2 - Count the cost. Success always comes at a price. In the passage above, the man building the tower failed to realize the cost of his goal.  As he lacked the money to finish the tower, he failed to achieve his goal.  The price of cleaning your dishes will probably only be a couple of nickels and dimes and 15 minutes of your time, but there is still a cost. And as your goals and dream grow so dose the cost. This is probably where people go from being successful to failures the quickest. Someone makes their goal earning a million dollars.  They dedicate time and energy toward their goal and make 1 million dollars. They are successful! Now they need a new goal and they look around and realize they have destroyed their marriage, family and health. Their new goal is to recover these things but they never can. They have now become a failure. Before chasing your goals and dreams count the cost!

Principle #3 - Do the little things right! In  Luke 19:12-24 Jesus tell the parable of the pounds. One man was given 10 pounds, one 5 and one 1. After a time they were required to give account of their investments. All had doubled their money except the man given 1 pound. He had hidden the money and returned no profit. He received no reward. Those who had doubled their money received power over cities because of their faithfulness. Many companies have Ceo's and bosses who are know for doing the most basic jobs even when others aren't watching. Others have started at the bottom (washing dishes) and have risen to the top. Jim Skinner started as an intern manager at McDonalds and is now CEO.

      One great Biblical story of doing the little things right is the story of David and Goliath (1Samuel 17). David's brother were in battle, but he was left watching the sheep. One evening his father came to him and told him that tomorrow he would take some food to his brothers. The next day David got up early(v20) and set of to the battle field. He arrived as Goliath was issuing a challenge against God and Israel. David was angry and asked why none would fight and what would the reward be for killing this giant. His brothers accused him of being battle hungry and having no business being there . He responded to this "Is there not a cause? (v29)" Many think the cause of David's life at that time was to kill the Giant and defend Israel, but what was the cause of David even being at the battlefield? His cause had been to deliver food to his brothers.If he had not risen early in the morning to do so, he would not have heard Goliath's challenge. His obedience to the little cause gave him an opportunity to face the giant cause.

     Principle #4 - Do all things right. If you do thing right you will get the right result. If you do things wrong, you will not. Cutting shortcuts will not gain you anything. Giving up morality or truth for quick "success" will lead to destruction. If you cut corners on your dishwashing who do you have to blame when someone ends up with food poisoning?