Help My Wayside

Intro:

Church today as we work on this series of Where We Sow, I must admit that God threw me a curve ball on all of this. I started studying a little bit ago about Harvest. I looked at different harvest and the meaning of harvests. I was excited about the harvest, and all that is promised in the Harvest. Then God moves me to sowing, because sowing is the precursor to reaping, and reaping is tied to your harvest. Often times in this world we are instructed to sow or invest in many different things. Savings accounts, IRA, 401k, real estate, stocks, and bonds. Each investment has a potential yield tied them and also risk. Your yield or the amount of yield you receive is often times tied to the amount of risk you are willing to or able to handle. Now I could go down a long dissertation on investing and the mechanics of such, but to make a point clear if you have seed you need to be sowing! Whatever God gives you that is what you are responsible for, and what you do with it determines what you will gain from it! Somebody look at your neighbor and say do something with your seed!

Text Work:

As we look at the text today. Jesus is sitting by the sea, and a great multitude has amassed around him. He then gets into the boat so that all are able to hear him from an amplified position sort of like this microphone. Jesus uses the water and surround hill country to echo his words so that the people could receive this divine impartation. Then Jesus did something that puzzled some, He spoke in a parable. To help with context. Parable in the Greek is an illustration that teaches a greater meaning. Parable is also tied to symbolisms or foreshadow. So Jesus used this tool to teach and to explain spiritual things to carnal people. Sometimes Jesus would talk like this in order to get the crowds full attention and allow their minds to wrestle with what he is teaching. Because the Holy Spirit is all wise I am certain that Jesus would not use a sowing or farming parable to fishermen. What are you saying pastor I am so glad you asked God knows how to get our attention and God knows how to talk to us. Sometimes Jesus had to use language they understood in order for them to understand what he was implying. Notice in the text that Jesus used a power word in order to get their attention. He said behold! According to Webster Behold is used 1298 times in the Bible. The Greek word IDOU means to look or to pay close attention. So Jesus in the context of the text got into a boat so that all could hear him clearly from the auspice of his voice being magnified and all being to see him. Pay attention to this church. They could see him and hear him. Then he says IDOU or behold or pay attention, because I am about to say something that may just change the whole direction of your life! I just wanted to pause for a moment and tell somebody here right now you need to stop what you are doing and pay attention to what Jesus is saying to you! Jesus has amplified his voice and positioned himself so that you can see and hear him in order for you to receive him. Now Jesus has moved into a position of teaching it is up to us to move into a position of learning. Matthew 11:29 says “29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Wake your neighbor up and say you have to hear it in order to receive it!

Wayside:

In the parable Jesus says Behold a sower went out to sow. The first thing that we have take to heart is that if God gives you seed He intends on you to sow. I don’t care how smart you think you are, how savvy and investor you are, how much business acumen you have, if you don’t sow you will not reap! One of the reasons why we cannot get to a harvest spiritually, financially, or mentally is because we are not sowing into it! So the sower is heading out to sow, and Jesus said some of the seeds fell by the wayside. The wayside is ground not fit for sowing into. It is ground that is hardened due to being walked on continually. Notice that the sower didn’t sow in this ground, but that some fell by the wayside. Can we just be honest church and admit that we dropped some stuff along the way. Do I have any real folks in here who will admit that we were not careful with our seed at times and some of our seeds fell by the wayside!? The wayside can be many things.

Sometimes tradition can be a wayside. Sometimes church we have allowed what we always do cause us to be hardened to anything new. Sometimes tradition because it has been repeated over and over again until we believe the tradition to be the ultimate truth, and when God introduces new knowledge we can’t receive it because the ground of our heart and mind is too hard to receive it!

Sometimes life can cause us to be a wayside. Our experiences causes us to be calloused and hardened because of what happened back then. You can’t receive a new man or woman because of the last woman. You can’t receive a new position because of the hurt from the last position. You can’t work on that new degree because you failed at the last degree.

Sometimes failures will cause you to become wayside. Because if you failed once you start believing that you are a failure. Someone tells you that you are a winner and you refute it or will not receive it because of previous failures.

Somebody touch your neighbor and tell them don’t let your past cause you to be unfruitful!

Close:

As I move to my close, I just want to put this in your spirit church. Nothing grows on the wayside. The wayside is not intended on even being sowed into, but because of God’s grace He sometimes allows seed to be sown even in the hardest of places. I am reminded that the scriptures teaches us that immediately after the word of God is sown the enemy comes to scratch it up. The birds the text says came and devoured it, meaning because the seed was exposed the birds came and snatched it off the ground for an easy meal. Just like today many of us hear the word of God at church and because our hearts have been hardened the enemy comes to steal it before you can even fully receive it. If we were honest we have wayside places in our lives. Some of us its money! Anytime God’s word is taught or preached on money you won’t receive it because you are hardened in that area. I don’t care what the devil said if you pay your tithes and give an offering God said He will open up the windows of Heaven and pour you out a blessing you don’t have room to receive. Don’t let that be your wayside. Some of us its sin. Especially those physical sins we enjoy like fornication, adultery, lust, and homosexuality. We use lies like I am human or a little bit won’t hurt or I ain’t perfect, but the reality is we have allowed this to become our wayside! We won’t hear correction in these areas, because we have become hardened or misinformed. Don’t let this be your wayside. Some of us it is faith. Anything we don’t understand or anything we cannot explain we cannot believe. Something that seems impossible is impossible if you don’t have faith. God’s word said if you can have faith as a mustard seed you can speak to mountains and they will be removed! Church don’t allow your faith to become a wayside! That’s why the enemy always attacks your faith, because he knows if that seed takes root that he is in trouble, because Faith moves God! Can somebody be real with me today and tell God HELP ME WITH MY WAYSIDE! I have been unfruitful too long in that area. I have not been productive too long in that area. I have not been able to receive in that area. I have take too many losses in that area. God HELP ME WITH MY WAYSIDE!