THY KINGDOM COME (7)

⁵“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. ⁶Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. ⁷And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. ⁸But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”(Luke 8:5-8 NKJV)

Effective communication is one of the key fundamentals for smooth transaction in any kingdom.  The citizens of any kingdom are required to speak the same language with their king; otherwise, it will be difficult to have effective communication between the king and his subjects. People from countries with colonial past will appreciate this truth easily. When Britain for instance colonised Nigeria, the colonial masters had to impose their language on us so that they can communicate with us.  This is why the official language of Nigeria is English. Similarly, in the Kingdom of God, it is imperative for the believers and God to be able to communicate; otherwise, the kingdom will not function properly.  This provides the backdrop to understand the declaration of Jesus; “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27 NKJV). Only the sheep who hear the voice of the Shepherd can follow Him. The sheep that cannot hear the voice of the shepherd is bound to stray away. It is becoming increasingly important for believers to learn to hear God for themselves. If indeed you are a citizen of the Kingdom where Jesus Christ is the King, then you must hear His voice. Our Lord promised His disciples, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God...” (Luke 8:10 NKJV).  The mysteries of the Kingdom of God are learned through direct communication with the King (Galatians 1:11-12).

Our Lord told the story of a farmer who was scattering seeds in the farm to illustrate the heart conditions that can hear the voice of God.  He ended the story with the warning, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”  Hence, the main thrust of the parable is about developing the capacity to hear voice of God and profiting from what He says. Every radio has the capacity to receive and interpret sound waves, but to listen to a particular station of interest, you must deliberately tune to the right frequency. Likewise, every believer has the capacity to hear the voice of God, but the sound would be muddled unless your heart is properly conditioned to discern His voice.  In the parable, Our Lord identified four heart conditions and their relative receptivity to His voice.  As the sower went about sowing the seeds, some seeds fell on footpaths; some fell on rocky ground, some among thorns, and some on good ground. Here is the way the Master explained the parable.

¹²The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved. ¹³The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation. ¹⁴The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. ¹⁵And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest. (Luke 8:11-15 NLT).

In explaining the parable, Our Lord identified the seed as the word of God and the soil conditions as the attitudes of hearts and how they receive the word of God.  The footpath represents close-minded people, who have no time to listen to God. Their hearts are hardened by pride, fear, bitterness and unforgiveness.   The rocky soil represents shallow-minded people who enjoy the word of God for a season but quickly forget it and compromise in face of little challenges. They lack the spiritual depth to withstand the wiles of the devil.   The thorny soil represents the encumbered minds who are easily distracted from focusing on God by the busyness of life. Worries, riches and pleasures draw them away from God. The good soil represents the heart that is open to God’s voice and cooperates with what God says. God speaks to people whose hearts are prepared to receive and obey His word.  Those who will believe the word and refuse to give up on it until it produces the desired fruit in their lives. Are you one of such? May the Holy Spirit help you to prepare your heart to hear the voice of God in Jesus Name.