Frozen?

 

Photo by Paul Berzinn 2006

I had a dream in which there was a worldwide famine. Many years previously, world governments had entrusted individuals in different countries with seed pods that were to be frozen and maintained in cold storage. Now that farms needed to be replanted, these individuals were to transport their store to designated locations so that agricultural specialists could grow food, combat world hunger, and feed the starving population.

I searched for the frozen seed pods in the deep recesses of a freezer in our garage and finally found them. Their container had been jostled sideways and covered over by frozen foods and ice packs. As I removed it, I was distraught to see that the thermometer on the container read 78 degrees Fahrenheit – far from frozen! My heart sank as I realized that this portion of the future food supply for the world was endangered and might even be lost altogether, because of my carelessness.

As I awakened with a shudder and considered the meaning of the dream, I remembered the Scriptural analogy of the good seed of God’s Word (Matthew 13). Once saved by trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), every Christian is to sow the seed of that Gospel into the hearts of the spiritually dying world.

That is an enormous privilege, blessing, and responsibility – even greater than that of preserving crop seed to feed future generations of those starving from famine. In the dream, I had neglected that duty by piling other, immaterial items on top of the essential treasure; by pushing it out of its rightful place; and by failing to maintain its needed storage temperature, or even to realize that I had done so.

It made me wonder how well I care for the priceless treasure within my heart --- the saving message of Christ’s Gospel planted there by His Holy Spirit. How often do I pile heaps of clutter around it, like sinful thoughts, worldly desires, and even the extra baggage of weights (Hebrews 12:1) that are not in themselves sinful, but that keep me from putting Christ first in my life?

Do I nurture those seeds of truth, waiting for the Holy Spirit’s leading to sow them, or do I often forget they are even there? Do I carefully tend to them, making sure they are stored under optimal conditions of a clean heart, washed daily by the watering of God’s Word? Do I study and memorize Scripture, so that when God calls on me to sow the seed, I can explain the Bible basis for my beliefs (1 Peter 15:3) and be a more convincing witness?

In the parable of the sower, the poor conditions in which God’s Word could not take root included the hard, stony ground, similar to frozen soil, like the freezer in the dream. The seed sprouted quickly but was soon scorched by the hot sun, representing the sinner who received God’s Word with joy, but soon lost faith, because the Word had not grown in their cold heart (Matthew 13:5-6; 20-21).

When we speak of assets being frozen, we mean that the owner has no access to using them, usually because of criminal activity, and they are of no good to the owner or to anyone else. Today, people attempt to preserve their fertility by freezing their embryos, or even their lives by freezing their corpse for cryogenic storage. In both cases, the hope is that viable function can one day be restored. But in the meantime, these frozen specimens are in a state of suspended animation, where they have no meaningful existence or impact on anyone or anything.

Surely God does not want us to do that with His Word – to lock it away in a freezer and attempt to revive it only in dire straits or under optimal conditions. He wants us to be instant in season and out of season, always ready to preach the Gospel to whomever He places in our path (2 Timothy 4:2). We are not to wait for the ideal time or conditions to sow the seed or to harvest (Ecclesiastes 11:4), but to sow liberally and abundantly in all seasons, knowing that we shall reap what we sow, more than we sow, and later than we sow, according to the law of the harvest (Hosea 8:7; 10:12; John 4:36; 2 Corinthians 9:6; Galatians 6:7-8).

In the dream, the thermometer on the seed pod container read 78 degrees Fahrenheit – certainly not frozen, but lukewarm. Jesus Christ wants us to be on fire for Him (Luke 24:32), as was foreshadowed in the Old Testament by burnt offerings given to the Lord (Leviticus; Numbers). But He would prefer even a stone-cold heart to our lukewarm attitudes, which make Him want to vomit us out of His mouth! He criticized the lukewarm church of Laodicea, foreshadowing today’s church in the End Times, for being materially rich but spiritually blind and naked (Revelation 3:14-18).

Rather than cherishing and caring for the one thing of importance in the freezer – the seed pods – I had destroyed their value by heaping groceries and ice packs upon them. A frozen steak might make a tasty meal, and an ice pack might soothe a sore shoulder, but neither has any lasting value. In contrast, the seed pods could have fed many people, and by preserving seeds from the crop harvest, many future generations.

But in the dream, I favored temporal things over eternal things, and then had to face the consequences (2 Corinthians 4:18). If we devalue God’s Word and neglect its study, we may be rich and wise in worldly terms, but failing to store up treasures in Heaven (Matthew 6:20), like the church of Laodicea.

Today, more than ever before, there is a worldwide famine amongst the lost seeking for truth to satiate their spiritual hunger. If we as Christians fail to do our part, countless souls will perish. Truly the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few (Matthew 9:37-38).

May we take the precious Gospel seed out of cold storage, sow it to the lost and dying world, and be on fire for the Lord, until He comes again! 

© 2023 Laurie Collett