Word of the Week - 100x Soil
Listen! A farmer went out to sow seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times. Mark 4:3-8
Rocky Shallow Soil – “As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Other, like seed sown in rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away” Mark 4:15-17. The issue of our hearts and souls being rocky shallow soil is probably more prevalent today than ever before, due to our culture of instant gratification fueled by our virtual reality. God requires us to be all in not half-hearted and lukewarm. Faith in God is both real and deep, it is not a surface thing. We must be touched by God at the depths of our souls and transformed by the renewing of our mind and spirit. We need to really get to know God if we want our faith to take root and endure the test of time and persecution.
Thorny Competing soil - “Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word, but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful” Mark 4:18-19. I see this as the biggest threat, especially at my stage of life. There are so many things competing for our attention especially as we realize success in life, we end up having lots of stuff, responsibilities and options on how to spend our time, energy and money. How do we sort through all of this and keep our relationship with God as our priority? We all have an enemy of our soul whose job is to steal, kill and destroy to keep us from our God destiny and he is a master at using good things to distract us and keep us from God’s best. Solid believers with the best of intentions are at risk in this category. The things of life can sneak up on us and begin to compete for our heart and attention. I am convinced that the primary antidote to this is simply making God “The Priority” in our lives. First in every category including our time, attention, finances etc. God desires to be first and will not settle for any other position in our lives. “Seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness and all things will be added unto you”. Matthew 6:33
Good Fertile Soil - “Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop – some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown”. Mark 4:20 This is what God desires for us as His sons and daughters, that we simply accept/receive His love and make it the highest priority in our lives. That we allow God to water us daily as we remain connected to Him through the vine of Christ and receive the water and nutrients so we can be fruitful and multiply by God doing His work in us and through us. This is Jesus promise to us in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches, if you remain/abide in me, I will remain/abide in you and you will bear much fruit. Apart from Me you can do nothing”.
Force Multiplier 100x soil - “Man and woman are to serve as His image, to be fruitful, to multiply, and to be about His work.” Genesis 1:26 First and foremost, we can be 100x fruit bearers by ensuring we are investing in our families to reproduce. God literally instituted family to be the primary way that we multiply physically and spiritually. This is our greatest opportunity and biggest responsibility. To be 100x Force Multipliers we must understand that we are called to have generational impact. Yes, what we do in our lives will impact future generations. We can either be proactive and pass on a heritage of godliness and generational blessing or miss the opportunity. If we are not proactive in this area we may be allowing curses to pass from one generation to the next. This is the primary reason I founded the Heritage Forum www.heritageforums.com, to help men/families understand that God desires for us to engage intentionally in our families and passing on a godly heritage. Even though it is as much caught than taught, we must be intentional. The average family will have approximately 250 decendents after 5 generations and 2500 after 10 generations. How we lead our families in the ways of faith, values and heritage are huge. If we want to be 100x fruit bearers, I believe we must stay connected to the vine of Christ, intentionally steward our families and be generous sowers to those in our centers of influence. “For he who sows sparingly will reap sparingly, but he who sows generously will reap generously.” 2 Corinthians 9:6
As a business person, I love the idea of getting the best Return on Investment (ROI). As a follower of Jesus, I get even more excited about Eternal Rate of Return (ERR); ROI is temporary but ERR is eternal. I hope this message encourages you to want to be good fertile soil that God can use to produce 100x crop. God’s promise is that He will produce abundant fruit if we are faithful as emphasized in Ephesians 3:20. “For He is able to do immeasurably more than we can ever ask or imagine by His power at work within us, for His glory”.
Have a great week….
-Duane