On our mantle, we have four antique mason jars, a half pint with a cotton boll, a pint filled with corn seed, a quart full of wheat seed and a half gallon full of soybeans. They are merely there for decoration. There is no plan to sow these seed. I do not know how much fabric could be made if the seed from the cotton boll were planted, how much corn meal (and corn oil) could be produced from the corn that would result if the seed were planted, how many loaves of bread could result from the wheat seed or how much food could be made if the soybean seed were planted. The fact is the seed are unsown and there will never be a harvest. Those who could be fed and/or clothed from these seed will not be.
In our home, we have several bibles. Some are badly worn and no longer used. We even have several different translations of the Bible. Jesus, in the Parable of the Sower, tells us that the (spiritual) seed is the Word of God. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. (Luke 8:11) Like the seed above, God’s Word has great potential but only if it is sown.
The Word (seed) has the power to produce faith but only if it is heard (sown). Rom. 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. It has the power to save but only if it is preached (sown). Rom. 1: 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. The Word has the power to light our path but only if we allow it to illuminate (be sown in) our hearts. Ps 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. The word has the power to detect, perceive and understand our thoughts and intentions if it is sown into our hearts. Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The statement, “The pen is mightier than the sword” was first written by novelist and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839. These words are not inspired of God but have rung true as applied to the pens of men. How much more so are they true when applied to the inspired pens of those who revealed God’s Word! The Word of God, the seed, can spread like a wildfire when sown in the hearts of honest, truth-loving men. The Word of God when planted in the hearts of those who seek righteousness is like a hammer breaking down barriers of prejudice and strongholds of sin and false teaching. Jeremiah 23: 29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
Jesus told Nicodemus that we must be born again. John 3: 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. Nicodemus had trouble understanding it, thinking Christ was talking about a second physical birth. Peter sheds light upon the subject explaining that it comes from or results from obeying the truth (another name for the Word (John 17:17) which is the seed- Luke 8:11). I Pe. 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. The Word of God is the incorruptible seed that can remove sin and corruption in our lives and enable us to be resurrected incorruptible (I Co. 15:51-55) to share Heaven with the Father.
Bibles usually do not sit on mantles, but too often they do sit on book shelves, coffee tables or end tables unopened, unused and collecting dust. When a seed is sown, it has a rebirth as a plant that can multiply itself many times. If it is never planted, it will accomplish nothing. The Bible, when sown can produce much spiritual fruit when it is sown into good soil (hearts of men) as Jesus states in His parable. Luke 8: 8 And other (seed) fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. It is our job to plant the seed. The seed, God’s Word, cannot accomplish anything if not planted. Failing to plant it makes Jesus’s death for naught or of no avail. However God has promised results if we will but plant the seed. Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Not all soil is productive; not all men’s hearts are receptive. Our job is to plant and to water and then leave the rest up to God and the recipients of the planting. 1Co 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
