Sower of the Seed

I am writing this brief tract because I feel led by the Lord to do so. In this tract He wants me to tell about His free plan of salvation. He also wants me to tell you how He has helped me to come through the many trials and how he has led me all the way. I want to tell you of my life before I fully committed it to Him.

Before I turned to the Lord I felt pretty miserable. I didn't think there was much to life. I was always griping about being in a wheelchair, was constantly saying how unfair it was, and other useless things like that. I was depressed, only nice to the small group of people I liked, and kept a mean look on my face whenever I could. I was addicted to violent video games and anime cartoons. I also listened to alternative and hard rock music. I was already in depressed mode all the time and the music I listened to was fueling my anger towards my life. Being in depressed mood became my regular state of my mind. At that point I did not want to look forward to see about my life. At one point I seriously considered suicide. My parents took me to church since I was little, but I didn't take it seriously. I didn't think that God, Jesus, churches, or religious speeches were much for me.

God caught my attention before anything horrible like that happened. One day I very clearly heard God say through His Holy Spirit, that I needed to stop and change the things I was doing. At first, I thought he meant go to church, and do the religious motions. What I found out is that He wanted me to give Him everything, like give up my addictions: TV shows, bad music, and violent video games.

However, for the mercy of God I did not have to co-operate with that kind of evil thinking for long time. The path I found by the grace of God was enough for me to leave everything behind and move on with new spirit and energy.

Now I can tell you what my life is like after I have finally fully committed to the Lord. My depression is like it never had been there, and I am in the greatest mood I have ever been in my life. I have started telling people about the Lord. I had always been shy, but now I am bold in talking to people I never would have talked to before.

Still I thought the Lord wouldn't use me. Then he used me in ways I never thought possible. He started doing things He said He would do in the New Testament of the Bible. I'm not trying to say you'll be perfect if you accept Jesus. All Christians still have problems. But when you accept Him, you always have Him to help you with your problems and sinful ways.

Matthew 13:1 - 9 NIV - The Parable of the Sower

1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell
along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places,
where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was
shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered
because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and
choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop
- a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 He who has ears, let him
hear."

In the parable of the sower, the seed that is trampled are people who ignore God's word. They act like everything He says is not true, or they don't need to live that way. When this happens, their hearts usually turn cold and harden. When they don't live the way God wants them to it leaves room for Satan and his evil dominion to interfere with their lives. When the devil gets into your life it's like a vulture picking at you because you're spiritually dead. Then they get farther away from God and His grace. Then they think of Christians as even more weird.

The seeds thrown on the rocky soil are us wanting to serve the Lord, but the rocks are the things that get in our way. Hard times, temptations, or hurting drag us back down into our old lives, and we're no better than the pagan (sinner).

The seed thrown among the thorns are our lives being overrun by the thorns in them. Thorns are things that choke away what God has to offer us. They can be things like hate, bitterness, or gossip. Three major thorns are money, worldly things, and doing what you want rather than what God wants. We have to watch the thorns in our lives and ask God to help us prune them when they start to grow.

Finally, we're to the fourth part of the parable, where the seed produces a crop. It is when we are listening to God and we're doing what He wants us to do. Then we hear His messages, listen to other Christians, remember it, and apply it to our lives. Then we start sharing it with others, and with God's help start sowing 30 fold, 60 fold, or with a lot of God's help 100 fold. You have to remember this doesn't happen overnight. It takes time.

Jesus himself was explaining God's plan for the salvation of the world to one of the religious teachers of the day named Nicodemus. In John 3:16 - 18 NIV of the New Testament of the Bible, Jesus painted the picture this way:

16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not parish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18Whoever believes in him in not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands
condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only
Son."

Jesus, the Prince of Peace wants you to come home. All you have to do is ask Him into your life. Ask Jesus into your heart, to take away your sin so you can serve Him without being bound by it. God sent his Son to the world, or gave His Son rather, so that one day he would be sacrificed for us. Jesus shed his blood on the cross so that it might cover our sins. He was sacrificed once for all sin.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4

3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

If you're really serious about serving the lord here are some real important steps you should take. Start reading the Bible daily, beginning with the New Testament The books of the New

Testament are:
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 st and 2 nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 st and 2 nd Thessalonians, 1 st and 2 nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 st and 2 nd Peter, 1 st 2 nd and 3 rd John, Jude and Revelation.

From there the next big step to take is finding a church home. It is important to attend a church that recognizes the Bible as the Word of God as well as the supreme standard and authority. That will truly help you know and understand what the Bible says and recognize any type of false teaching.

Now my brother or sister, you are on your way to an awesome and exciting life with Jesus Christ!

Revelation 3:20 NIV:

20 "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."

Please don't ignore what the Lord is saying. Don't find out when it's too late that there is a hell. Don't find out the hard way that Jesus was telling the truth when He said He was coming again.

Consider the following verses from Matthew 24:36 - 44 NIV:

36 "No one knows about the day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, or the Son, but only the Father. 37As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the
ark; 39and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and
took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
40Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41Two
women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will
come. 43But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of
night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his
house be broken into. 44So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will
come at an hour when you do not expect him."

P.S. - I was used by the Holy Spirit to write this --- Steven R. Harris