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

 

The Cornfield: Death to Newness of Life

As readers of this blog  may have gathered, I sometimes have detailed and complex dreams. One morning, however, I awoke remembering not an intricate plot, but a single image.

I stood in a cornfield at sunrise, the warmth of the morning sun offset by a refreshing breeze rustling through the cornstalks. The air was perfumed with the cleansing scent after a light shower, enriched by the fertile soil and the earthy aroma of fresh corn.

I stood before a single corn plant and was struck by its beauty and majesty as it grew purposefully toward Heaven. Its emerald leaves were lined with countless tiny grooves, sparkling with dew like multifaceted crystals, reflecting prisms of light. Pearly white, and pale and bright gold, kernels peeked through the parted husks sheathing the pristine ear of corn. At the top of the ear, flaxen strands of corn silk shone in the sun like a maiden’s blonde tresses.

This vision was hardly extraordinary – one that would be commonplace in the lives of many farmers – yet a miracle nonetheless. Such a lovely, vigorous, and nourishing plant could not have grown had it not been for death and rebirth. What began as a kernel of corn, dying and decaying in the earth to expose a single seed, had grown in the rich loam to become a tender shoot, then a young plant daring to emerge from its dark grave and face the sun. As it absorbed nutrients from the soil, life-giving rain water, and energy from the sun itself, it matured into a plant that was a delight to the senses, food for the body, and a reminder of spiritual truth.

Corn is not only a basic food commodity (Genesis 42:25) but a symbol of God’s provision. The perfect food of manna that God miraculously showered on the earth to feed the Israelites as they journeyed through the desert was described as “the corn of heaven” (Psalm 78:24).

Corn is the first mentioned in a list of dietary blessings from God, even before wine, olive oil, bread, vineyards, and honey (Deuteronomy 7: 12; 18:4; Hosea 2:8; Joel 2:19;  2 Kings 18:32). Isaac’s blessing for his son is that “God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine (Genesis 27:26), and God Himself promised a similar blessing for the nation of Israel if they kept His commandments (Deuteronomy 33:28).

Because of the value of corn, it was fitting that God commanded His people to bring Him firstfruit offerings and tithes of corn from their harvest (Leviticus 2:14; Deuteronomy 18:4; Nehemiah 13:12).

In the book of Job, the man who joyfully accepts correction by and trials from God as a path to healing (Job 5:18-19) will “come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season (Job 5:26).

Throughout the Bible, giving corn is a way to feed others. For example, Joseph, who was a type or foreshadowing of Christ, provided for his once estranged brothers by loading their sacks with corn (Genesis 42:25).  Pharaoh’s dream, interpreted by Joseph, was of seven ears of corn symbolizing the wealth and productivity of Egypt: seven abundant years during which Joseph would supervise storage of corn and other staples to feed the people during the seven years of famine to follow (Genesis 41:5-7;49).

The tender story of Ruth and Boaz, which foreshadows Christ as our Redeemer and Sustainer, shows Boaz allowing Ruth to glean ears of corn from his field to feed herself and her mother-in-law Naomi (Ruth 2:2). Jesus Himself fed His disciples by allowing them to pick and eat corn from a field, even though it was the Sabbath day (Matthew 12:1; Mark 2:23; Luke 6:1)

One of the Mosaic laws also reminds us that laborers in the harvest should be blessed themselves by taking part in the fruits of that harvest: Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn (Deuteronomy 25:4). Paul explains the spiritual applications of this principle, namely, that laborers seeking to harvest souls for God’s kingdom will be rewarded (1 Timothy 5:18), and that He will bless those who spread the Gospel with the hope embodied in that Good News (1 Corinthians 9:9-11).

In the parable of the sower, Jesus illustrates how the seed of God’s Word only results in salvation when it is sown into the fertile soil of a heart receptive to Him and not entangled in worldly preoccupations. In that situation, however, the seed brings forth fruit, multiplied thirty to one hundred-fold (Mark 4:1-25).

Jesus explains that we can’t see or understand how a kernel of corn dies in the soil to transform into a fully ripe ear of corn on the stalk, each kernel capable of repeating the whole process (Mark 4:26-29). Similarly, we can’t understand the mystery of how His death resulted in the eternal life of all who repent of their sins and trust in His death, burial and resurrection as the only way to Heaven (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Part of that mystery, however, is that we must die to our sin nature and to worldly cares (1 Corinthians 15:31) so that we can live forever as a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), indwelled by the Holy Spirit to reach many other souls for Him.

John 12: 23 The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

Paul takes this analogy even further, explaining that when Christ calls believers to Himself at the Rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51-53), our dead bodies will be raised as glorified, immortal bodies like those of the resurrected Christ Himself:

1 Corinthians 15: 36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: 37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain.… 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.

Praise God that while this dream of the cornfield was beautifully simple, it provided ample food for thought and reflection on His bounteous provision of physical sustenance, spiritual blessings, and everlasting life! May we plant the good seed of His Word in our heart and sow it to others, that we may all be transformed from the defeat of death to the victory of eternal life in Christ!

© 2012 Laurie Collett
Reposted from the archives

Germination

Germination

The COVID-19 pandemic has provided many learning experiences. Some we wish we had never needed to endure. Yet others enriched us in unexpected ways as we dealt with new restrictions but had more time to explore unexpected avenues.

For example, muhly grass. I had never heard of this tropical plant. But when searching for the perfect ground cover near the beach house, it turned out that muhly grass has many attributes making it suitable for this climate. It can withstand scorching, direct sun; sandy soil; salt air; and long periods of drought. The root system extends laterally, giving it stability even in gale force winds, and allowing us to plant it over the septic system without concern that deep vertical roots would clog the drainage field.

Most of the time, this perennial grass has attractive blue-green stalks. In late summer through fall, mature plants dazzle the beholder with feathery pink blooms that resemble cotton candy!

Well, at least in the pictures. Our quest for muhly grass began with purchasing seeds in an Etsy store. After payment, I glanced at the fine print and realized the seeds were coming from Romania! The 2-week ETA extended to 5 weeks as the packet was held up in customs in Texas. But evidently the inspectors concluded that it did not contain opium poppy or other deleterious seeds, and it finally arrived at our door.

The seeds were tiny, like the proverbial mustard seed Jesus used as an example of faith (Matthew 17:20). We poked shallow holes in egg-cup sized peat pellets, as the seeds need light to germinate, but enough depth not to blow away. Each day we misted and checked for signs of germination, but there were none.

Three weeks had elapsed, past the expected germination time, and yet no signs of life. Small wonder, I thought, as the seeds could easily have been damaged during their long, arduous, journey full of delays.

On Easter Sunday I again went through this morning ritual. Yet as I lifted the clear plastic cover, a few tiny, fragile, yet unmistakable green shoots had sprouted from their dark tombs! What a fitting reminder of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) Who died for our sins, then arose that all who trust Him would have eternal life!

Our “babies,” as my husband calls them, have a long way to go before they are ready to be transplanted in the ground, and even longer before they delight us with clouds of pink blossoms. Will we have the faith and be afforded the opportunity to see their potential realized?

This ongoing experience reminds me of the parable of the sower, and of Jesus’ command to sow the seed of His Word, no matter what unfavorable conditions we may encounter.

In this parable, Jesus uses the sower to represent one who spreads God’s Word; the seed as a symbol of the Word itself, and the soil as the state of the heart of the one who hears the Word. Mark 4 and Matthew 13 have nearly identical accounts of the parable and its explanation, emphasizing the importance and truth of this Scripture passage.

Jesus describes four conditions of the soil, or the heart, when confronted with the Word. If the seed falls outside the furrow prepared by the farmer, birds will eat it before it can even germinate (Mark 4:4). This represents the person who hears the Word but is immediately distracted by one of Satan’s lies (Mark 4:15). Clearly, this person rejected the Word and was not saved by hearing it

The second heart condition is like stony ground (Mark 4:5-6). Seeds planted here sprout quickly in the shallow earth, but the rocky ledge beneath prevents the seed from rooting. In the sun’s heat, the shoot withers away because it has no root to nourish it with water.

The person whose heart is rocky ground also undergoes no permanent change after hearing the Word (Mark 4:16-17). They react at first with joy but the Word has not taken root in their heart, and the Holy Spirit has not indwelled them because they “have no root in themselves.”

Such a person might be pleased to hear that Heaven could await them, but they do not repent of their sins, trust Christ as their Lord and Savior, or enter into a personal relationship with Christ. We speak of such a person as having a “head knowledge,” but not a “heart knowledge” of the Gospel. They may call themselves Christians and may join a church, but if it becomes politically incorrect or dangerous to do so, they will renounce the “faith” that they never had in the first place (Mark 4:17).

They may even believe that Jesus lived, died and rose from the dead, but that truth does not change their life in any meaningful way – they are not a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). They could be happy with the idea that Christ died so that they could have a “get out of hell free” card, but they see no reason to labor for His Kingdom.

A Biblical example of such a person could be King Agrippa, whom Paul “almost persuaded” to be a Christian (Acts 16:28). Sadly, you can’t be almost saved any more than you can be almost pregnant, and a person who is almost Christian is doomed to eternity in hell.

The third type of soil or heart condition described by Christ is the thorny soil, in which thorns rapidly overtake the good seed of the Word, choking it so that it cannot grow and bear fruit (Mark 4:7). In this situation, the Word never has the chance to affect the hearer, because worldly cares, such as the love of money or power, crowd it out (Mark 4:18-19).

The rich young ruler, for example, asked Jesus how he could inherit eternal life, but he believed he was righteous in his own merit and wealth was his god, leaving no room for the true Savior (Luke 18:18-25). Jesus explained that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24; Mark 10:25).

Another example was Judas, who latched onto Jesus because he thought He would overthrow Roman rule, but his greed (John 12:6) and desire for military power outweighed any alliance he felt to Jesus. The devil entered into Judas (John 13:2), and he was the “son of perdition,” (John 17:12) confirming that he was never saved.

Jesus will disown those who hear His Word but have hearts like stony or thorny soil, even though they may have done good works in His name and may even have shared the Scripture with others (Matthew 7:21-23).

It is not enough to believe that Jesus was a good man, that He died for our sins, or even that He rose from the dead. It is not enough to call ourselves Christians, join a church, or be baptized. We must trust Him, and Him alone, with childlike faith and love (Matthew 19:14; Mark 10:14-15), as our Lord and Savior.

As the saying goes, the distance between knowing about Christ and knowing Him as Savior, Spouse, Brother and Friend could be as little as 15 inches – the distance from head to heart. Only when we accept His precious gift of salvation by grace alone through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9) will the Holy Spirit of Christ indwell our heart (Ephesians 1:13-14).

That state of heart is represented by the good soil in the parable of the sower, in which the seed of the Word grows to maturity and allows the hearer to bear fruit in an increase 30 to 100 times over the seed that was sown (Mark 4:8,20). Ask any farmer what it takes to have good soil, and he will answer that it must be plowed up to remove rocks and weeds and to allow nourishing air and water to penetrate it.

Similarly, our hearts must be thoroughly worked over before we ache and groan with despair over our sinfulness, and before we realize that without our Savior, we can do nothing (John 15:5). Trials and heartache often precede coming to the end of ourselves, making our hearts fertile and ready to receive His saving grace.

The good soil is the only one of the four heart conditions that bears fruit, confirming that this is the only condition resulting in true salvation, in being born again (John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:23). Jesus tells us that we can discern the condition of another’s heart by the fruit they bear (Matthew 7:16-20).

Although we are saved by grace through faith and not by works, we are saved not to sit idly by waiting to go to Heaven, but to do good works, because faith without works is dead (Ephesians 2:8-10; James 2:20,26). Once our own seed of faith takes root, we are to bear fruit by sowing God’s Word in the hearts of others.

Once we are genuinely saved through faith and the Holy Spirit has taken root in our heart, we can never lose our salvation (Romans 8:35-39) even though we may hit barren, rocky or thorny patches. Born-again Christians may grow cold in their faith, backslide and become disobedient, or become unproductive for Him.

Nonetheless, He will never leave nor forsake His children (Hebrews 13:5). He is there waiting like the prodigal son’s Father to run to us and shower us with love once we take the first step back to Him (Luke 15:20). If we repent of our sins, He will renew our faith and revive our hearts (1 John 1:9; Psalm 51:8-12).

May our hearts be like good soil, ready to cultivate His Word and nurture our growing faith to maturity, so we can sow more seed and bear much fruit! May we sow light for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart (Psalm 97:11). 

May we learn and follow the law of the harvest, that we will sow what we reap, either to the flesh bearing sorrow (Proverbs 22:8), or to the Spirit bearing eternal life (Galatians 6:7-8).  May we sow God’s Word boldly and bountifully (2 Corinthians 9:6), without waiting for perfect conditions (Ecclesiastes 11:4), so that the harvest of souls brought to Him will be great! 

Sowing the precious seed of God’s Word may initially bring the sorrow of disappointment, or even of persecution, as we see no reward for our labor. But if we persevere, we will ultimately rejoice, bearing much fruit (Psalm 126:6; Galatians 6:9) and hearing our Lord say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21,23)

Now that spring is here, may you have hope and faith to sustain you in planting, whether flowers, vegetables, or even muhly grass!  May your physical and spiritual gardens soon be in full bloom, and may the Gospel seeds you plant take root in fertile soil!

© 2021 Laurie Collett