While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, He told them this parable: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, where it was trampled, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the seedlings withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the seedlings. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it sprang up and produced a crop—a hundredfold.” As Jesus said this, He called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”- Luke 8:4-8 BSB

Warrior
Let us begin with the end in Mind! After speaking this WORD OF LIFE, Jesus ended his teaching with the phrase, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” In today’s vernacular we would say, “Listen up! Pay close attention, TAKE HEED!” Gotquestions.com has this to say about this oft used statement by Jesus. “When Jesus addresses those who have ears, He refers to all who have been given His words—no matter their age, ethnicity, language, or status. But there is a difference between having ears and having “ears to hear.” Jesus’ parable of the Sower and the seed, contrast types of hearers: those who let the Word of God pass straight through their ears and those who truly listen and seek understanding (Mark 4:13–20). Some hear the Word, yet they do not allow it to take root because the seduction of worldly pleasures and comfort overcomes them. Others end up rejecting the Word because of persecution or trials. Others hear the Word and open themselves to understand and accept it so that it transforms them. Those who have “ears to hear” allow the Word to bear fruit to the glory of God. It is up to the hearer to decide whether to take the Word seriously and pursue understanding; only a few are willing—the rest have ears, but they do not have “ears to hear” (Matthew 7:13–14, 24–27). Many people have heard this story and they are familiar with it. However, things die in our comfort\familiar zones so let us remind ourselves of this important Life Lesson that Jesus Himself commanded us, “Have regard, GIVE ATTENTION to this”!

Leader, today in America Jesus is considered the leader of the largest Hate Group. The Bible has been tossed out of every school, every government building and now many hotel rooms. There are people who brush off the Bible as fable, or fantasy, but it is TRUTH, and it is Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth. People who want their ‘will-be-done’, on earth, as it is in heaven- and choose not to follow after the God of the Bible- brush off the wisdom of The Word. They misread the Bible as a book of religion, but it is The Book of Life. The Bible is guidance to live a good life. These are LIFE LESSONS, laws, rules, ‘Holy Grail’ of knowledge to fulfill the Quest that is our LIVES! What does today’s Life Lesson mean? If you keep reading, Jesus explains this life-lesson robustly. Hear the wisdom of our Lord: “Now this is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. The seeds along the path are those who hear, but the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. The seeds on rocky ground are those who hear the word and receive it with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a season, but in the time of testing, they fall away. The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does not mature. But the seeds on good soil are those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, cling to it, and by persevering produce a crop. (Luke 8:11-15) This is NOT religion; this is a LIFE LESSON. Jesus is telling us the power of our focus. Our heart and mind are connected, just like our eyes and our feet are connected. We move in the direction of our focus, and we focus on the direction of our movement. The things that we focus on most are where our treasures are. Our MINDSET creates our HEARTS DESIRES. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also!

Conduit, whether we are talking about Jesus, our mate, our children, or our job- these principles apply to a SIGNIFICANT LIVING. These are principles of Master, Abundance, and Success. If the devil can’t make you bad, he will make you busy. The first group was mesmerized by everything but God. Constantly distracted, and never moving along the journey with Yahweh. The second group is very similar to the first. The only difference is that the ‘object or activity’ was more vested with this group than the last. This second group got a little emotionally involved, went a little deeper than the first group, but never committed for a long term. The third group was more emotionally involved than the first 2. On the outside this person may seem like they totally bought in and are committed 100%- Heart, Body, and Soul. BUT, and that is the key word- BUT! Beware of what comes after the BIG BUT! Jesus said of this group, “they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does not mature.” Commitment at the point of Decision is TRUE commitment. Commitment always requires TRUST. Without Trust there can be NO commitment. If someone can’t trust you, then how can they commit to you? And conversely, If someone is NOT committed to you, how can you TRUST THEM? Trust is equivalent to FAITH. In math we would say, Faith=Trust. When things got tough, they ran to the flesh, they ran back to the world. The Bible says they had fruit. Did you read that? BUT – there is that BIG BUT again- the fruit did not mature. Think about that; the people that were impacted by this person, and growing in the LORD, now depart and fall off the TREE OF LIFE, because we couldn’t have FAITH and move through the adversity of the SANCTIFICATION process. Proverbs 24:16 reminds us that a Righteous person will fall 7 times BUT get back up. The wicked stumble into evil, into ruin! What is different about the last group? The last group was committed- Heart, Body, and Soul. The word says, “those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, cling to it, and by persevering produce a crop.” The Word became their Passion, people became their product and profit for the Kingdom of God became their produce. Anything we commit our all to produce fruit. That fruit is either temporal or eternal. That fruit is either about your success, or the Father’s Business. As the Word implies, follow the FRUIT to the ROOT! Today plant some deep roots with Jesus and pray for a bountiful harvest from our Father!