What is Spiritual Seed?

Piles of white blanketed the unfurling green of the season–summer and winter clashing in a late Rocky Mountain dance. Protecting my one fledgling tomato plant, I ushered it indoors and set it on the counter.

With temperatures near freezing, I watched over a series of days as the seedling’s leaves curled and withered. Still unable to place the miniature plant outdoors, I hoped it would resurrect beneath the sun’s welcoming light. But the thin stalk browned and refused any attempts at nurturing.

Seeds and their offspring only survive in the appropriate environment.

The offspring of spiritual seed we, too, thrive–and survive–under certain conditions. But what is spiritual seed?

 

What is Spiritual Seed?

His fame spread like the cotton of the prairie’s trees. Eager to sit at the feet of the Rabbi who healed with the touch of his hands, men and women traipsed across dusty roads to meet the man named Jesus. When the crowd hushed, Mary’s son said,

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”

“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. (Luke 8:6-8, 11 NIV).

Jesus defined spiritual seed. In the parable, the Lord scatters the spiritual seed, but certain unfavorable conditions prohibit growth or eliminate the opportunity for the word to take root. Only seed deposited in good soil survives and results in a bountiful harvest.

 

The Word of God as a Spiritual Seed

Every seed encapsulates life within its frame–whether helicopter seeds descending from the limbs of a maple tree, slender sable seeds carried on the wind by feather-like petals, or a sturdy acorn nestled at the base of a gnarled oak.

As a spiritual seed, God’s word produces the following:

• The progenitor of life speaks, and life becomes. Before creation, God brooded over the darkness but at His word–life formed. John 1:1 tells us that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

         Word in these verses is translated from the Greek, logos, which means “a word, speech, divine utterance, analogy”.

And because Christ and the Father are one (John 10:30), Jesus represents God as the divine ‘utterance’ or ‘analogy’ of life. In John 14:6 Christ affirms, “I am the way and the truth and the life.               No one comes to the Father except through me.

Life that exists in the seed of the word is the same life exhibited in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Click To Tweet

Life that exists in the seed of the word is the same life exhibited in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

• More than a guidebook, self-help text, or ancient map providing a moral compass, the Bible transforms. When a Christian invites the truth of scripture into her life, the seed of the Word bursts beyond the confines of its shell.

It is a new creation.

More than a guidebook, self-help text, or ancient map providing a moral compass, the Bible transforms. Click To Tweet

         Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)

• Seeds bear fruit. Gardeners invest hours tending and nurturing their plants. Some require deadheading and may suffer from infestations while others need more watering or additional nutrients.

 

Our heavenly Father knows each of us personally, as well, and lovingly cares for His children. (1 John 3:1-2) Under His attention, we will flourish and produce–like any good seed–if we adhere              to the command of Christ in John 15:3, “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”

 

 

A Prayer of Thanks for Spiritual Seed

Lord,

Thank you for giving me physical and spiritual life. I praise your name for the transformative power of your word and for Jesus–who is life and “the light of men” (John 1:4). Scripture speaks of you as a farmer and I can envision you, kneeling as you cup each tender plant when it juts above Earth’s soil–searching for the one who plants spiritual seeds. Father, help my roots to grow deep that I will be “established in love” (Ephesians 3:17) and “bear much fruit” to your glory (John 15:7).

Amen

 

Peace and grace,
Tammy

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