ICS Daily Devotions
Hear, Accept And Be Fruitful
Mark 4:20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.
Jesus gave us the ingredients for bearing fruit. They are Hear, Accept and Bear! First, we must position ourselves to hear the word of God.
Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Faith comes by hearing the word of God. The seed is the word of God that is being taught and sown into our heart every Sunday or whenever the word is being taught. There is a huge difference between knowing the truth in our head and acting it out from our heart. We need to behave and live out what we have heard and believed. Just like developing physical muscle, we develop spiritual “muscle” when we practice the word by living it out.
Next, we will produce fruit only when we accept or receive the word into our heart. Before a plant can grow into a tree and bear fruit, the seed has to be sowed into the ground for it to germinate and take root. Without the sowing of the seed, there will be no plant and hence no fruit. Similarly, before we can be fruitful in the things we do, we need to allow the word to be sowed into us by accepting it and believing with our heart and confessing what we believe.
If we hear the word but we are not doing according to the word, it is self-deception. The Word of God is a manual that teaches us how to live out our lives and we have to follow it in order to truly experience the abundant life. We cannot be walking in the flesh and expect the same blessings.
Galatians 6:7-8 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
James 1:21-25 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 For he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
Very often we would want to have the blessings that the Bible mentioned but we do not want to walk in the requirements of the word. We would want to continue to live in the flesh, independent of God yet we want to reap the harvest of the Spirit. This is simply living in deception.
Sometimes, we blame God for the consequences of our fleshly behavior rather than choosing to walk in the Spirit! The Bible has told us clearly in Galatians 6:7-8 that we reap what we sow. If we choose to sow in the flesh, we will reap corruption but if we sow in the Spirit, we shall have eternal life. Therefore, it is important to decide in our heart to hear, accept, act on it and bear fruit.
Sermon series: There is power in the seed
