Mark 4:2-3. It says; “And He taught them many things in parables (illustrations or comparisons put beside truths to explain them), and in His teaching He said to them: ³ Give attention to this! Behold, a sower went out to sow.”

My emphasis is going to be on verse 3. This was Jesus teaching the crowd about sowing and reaping; about prosperity and fruitfulness. But He didn’t teach them with plain sayings the Bible recorded that though He taught with illustrations, comparisons, and in parables about sowing yet they didn’t understand. How did I know that? When He concluded His teaching in verse 9, the Bible says; “And He said, He who has ears to hear, let him be hearing [and let him ^[a]consider, and comprehend].” Yet they couldn’t comprehend. But as as soon as He was alone, those who were around Him, with the Twelve [apostles], began to ask Him about the parables. ¹¹ And He said to them, To you has been entrusted the mystery of the kingdom of God [that is, ^[b]the secret counsels of God which are hidden from the ungodly]; but for those outside [^[c]of our circle] everything becomes a parable.

This seems to me that there is a secret to sowing and prosperity. And that was what Jesus was saying to disciples. How did I know that? Remember when we began by looking at Genesis, it was only the man planted in the garden that was given the access to see the seed that should be sown. And when you are able to see this seed it gives you dominion, it puts you in charge. Jesus said to them Do you not discern and understand this parable? So, it means that seeing the seed to be sown requires discernment and understanding. And that was what God was trying to do with Adam in the garden; He said behold, see I have given you seed, but you won’t receive it with your hands, you will receive it with your heart.

After the experience we saw in Genesis 26 verse 12, haven sowed and reaped See what Abimelech said to Isaac in verse 16 of Genesis 26; “And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.” How did Isaac attain this or was able to achieve this? He sowed. So, dominion, expansion and multiplication is given by seed. Whenever the seed is withheld progress, expansion and multiplication is forestalled. But that is not the focus of this article, the focus of this article is to make us see and realize that it is not enough to have a seed, what you do with the seed is very important.

That is the secret Jesus is about to unveil or teach His disciples. He began His interpretation in verse 14 of Mark 4 by saying; “The sower sows the Word.” So, the seed we have been talking about is the word. The secret to Isaac’s prosperity and the secret to the prosperity of any nation lies in their ability to receive and sow the word of God. The question is; how much of the word of God have I sown? Because the quality of the life you live is a function of the quality of the seed you had sown. You could see it practically from the life of farmers. Farmers who live in abundance and have enough grain or farm produce to store up are farmers who have sown quality and high breed seeds.

So, Jesus began to explain here; all we could read and see was that Isaac sowed in the land and reaped a hundred-fold and became prosperous. What were the underlining things that happened until the time he reaped? The first was that haven received the seed which was the word of God, Isaac sowed on the right soil. Under the right condition. It is possible to have a good seed, a hybrid seed, and sow it at the wrong place or the wrong soil. Sowing is not about burying seed in the ground, there is a way to sow. The servant with one talent also sowed, because it was put in the ground but it didn’t yield anything. Haven received the seed you must be discerning enough to sow on a fertile soil. Remember when I began, I said all soil have the capacity to receive seeds but not all has the capacity to yield.

See how potent the word of God is, see how potent the seed of the word is; but Jesus said it could be sown along the paths. See verse 15. When a seed is sowed along the path what happens is that it will be trampled upon. Seeds sown along the path is not appreciated, and is seen as not valuable. A path is a place that is accessible by everyone including thieves, it will be snatched away. A farmer who sows along the path is ignorant of the value of the kind of seed he has in his possession. So, the seed Isaac received wasn’t sowed along the path, it was sown on a fertile soil. This is what defines prosperity

What is the farmer supposed to do at this point; build an edge, safeguard and secure the seed from intruders and passers-by, protect it from destroyers. This is what Isaac did. Another thing Isaac was careful to do was that He discerned to make sure that his seed was not sowed upon stony grounds. While it is possible to sow along the path, it is also possible to sow on stony ground. Stony ground is not good for planting, it is only good for building upon. The reason is because the deeper the root the more established the plant will be and the more firmly rooted the plant is, the better its fruitfulness and the firmer it will be.

Jesus was attaching so much importance to foundations and roots here. A plant that is firmly rooted is not tossed or removed by the wind. Every root goes deeper in search of water and nutrients. A stony ground, a rocky environment may not support the movement of the root, and it could affect its fruitfulness. See what Jesus said; a seed planted on a stony ground may endure only for a while because the roots are not deeply seated in the ground. So, what should be the major concern of the farmer at this point? Be sure that the fallow ground is well broken, so that the root of the seed can go down to any dept it wishes to go and draw the required nutrients it needs for its fruitfulness.

Another environment Jesus quickly took notice of where there is a possibility to plant a seed is among thorns.  What is a thorn? A thorn is a stiff, sharp-pointed, straight or curved woody projection on the stem or other part of a plant. So, a seed can be planted among other seeds that are planted but this particular seed grows to have a stiff, sharp pointed projection. What is the literal meaning of this? It means that the seed is planted among a source of discomfort, annoyance, or difficulty; an irritation or obstacle. This will choke the plant and will hamper the productivity of that plant at the long run.

So, what must the farmer do at the point? He must be sensitive to environments which could be thorny, stony, or the pathway that could hinder the growth and productivity of the seed. So, if a seed does not prosper, it is not because it is not potent or powerful, it is because certain environment does not support its maximum productivity. All these Isaac was diligent enough to discern and put into consideration.

The last and most fundamental thing I realized was that Isaac sowed and waited patiently. There is no farmer that plants a seed today and expects to harvest it immediately. You must have the capacity to wait. Waiting is not a show of lack of ideas or not knowing what to do, sowing is the ability to wait for the set time. So, you wait in hope. And it requires a great deal of understanding to wait, because discernment and sensitivity is key. Even though you wait there are certain things you should be doing. So, while a farmer is waiting patiently for harvest, he doesn’t just sit idle, sleeping and waking up, he prepares for the harvest. We would be preparing his store house, he would be weeding, he would be checking for pest and rodents, He would water the plants and all kinds activities in preparation for the harvest.  

So, while I lifted up my eyes in the cause of this meditation, the Holy Spirit showed me a fruit looking like a melon torn open and inside of it there were plenty of seeds and He said to me three things could be done with the seed of this fruit. You could either choose to crush the seed or you could choose to plant the seed, or you could choose to chew or eat it. The choice is yours.

But as much as you could do any of these with the seed, what does wisdom demand of you? Wisdom says if you choose the option of sowing the seed you have the opportunity to have another fruit which looks like this melon. As much as it is wise to also crush the seed, what you will have after crushing the seed is oil, which you may either decide to consume or sell. This talks about processing or roasting what you have. It is also a wise decision. But the direct implication is that the crushing subjects the seed to the law of diminishing return. But you will not have the opportunity to have another melon.

This is the reason why God gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater. But He also gives rain. The rain is of no benefit to the oil, but it makes the seed produce in abundance. The rain means nothing to the eater, but it is a subtle voice speaking to the sower, “this is an instruction to begin to sow again.” The moment rain begins to fall it is an indication that the farmer should get to farm. So, the season upon you is the season of sowing, don’t crush all your seeds to get oil, sow some of them so that you can have an opportunity to reap in days and years to come. The rain has the capacity to bring forth and bud. Meaning that it has the capacity to compel growth on a plant so that it can develop into a leaf, flower, or shoot. The rain is primarily for the seed of a sower, if you have a rain without a seed, it may mean nothing. But rain is all that the sower needs to prosper in every given location. The rain can also be called blessing; remember we began by saying in addition to the seed, there must be a blessing upon the seed. When rain or blessings comes upon a bread it is to sanctify the bread for eating. But when it comes upon the seed, it causes an increase. While eating could be seen as depletion, sowing brings abundance. 2 Corinthians 9:6 says; “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”

Another word for sowing is doing. What does it mean to do? It means performance, execution; it means the activities in which a particular person engages his or herself. So, sowing is any productive activity you engage yourself.  If this is so, the question is; what are the areas do I need to engage myself in sowing?

#. Sow Divine Ideas. Your seed can be ideas sow it, your ideas are not meant to be sat upon, they are to be sown. How do you sow ideas? First by receiving it in the place of prayer, meditating on it; sharing the idea with the right people, strategizing and be proactive about it. This is how to prosper. I want you to know that money is the least of the seeds you can sow; some people think it is but its not true.

#. Sow Discipline. This talks about your routine and value systems. Your seed can be doing good, your seed can be time; sow time. Your seed could be diligence and hard-work, sow loyalty; be trust worthy. Your seed could be an unapologetic commitment to excellence.

#. Sow to the Spirit. The best, the most secured and most fertile of all lands you could sow is in the Spirit. Bible says in Galatians 6:8; For the one who sows to his flesh [his sinful capacity, his worldliness, his disgraceful impulses] will reap from the flesh ruin and destruction, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. So, therefore if he who sows righteousness reaps a true rewardd according to proverbs 11:8, it is then wise to sow in the Spirit in order to reap true rewards. Because sowing outside of the Spirit does not guarantee prosperity. Isaac didn’t receive his seed in the flesh neither did he sow in the flesh, he sowed in the Spirit and his reward was a hundred-fold.  

#. Sow to yourself. Is it saying you should be selfish? No! it is saying you should be selfless. It makes you grow and it increase your competence. Don’t put so much energy on your work, instead channel that energy into yourself; because it is what you put into yourself that affects your work. This means that you must sharpen your skills, it is what gives you advantage and a cutting edge in your work.

#. Sow into Relationship and Good Company. Proverbs 13:20 says; Keep company with the wise and you will become wise. If you make friends with stupid people, you will be ruined. Be in the company of mentors and friends who will provide you with information that gives insight and puts you in control. Make them talk, do the listening. You may never know a secret or timely principle will fall on your laps.

More also you it is important you have a covenant friend or covenant alliances. These ones can stick their necks out for you. David and Jonathan is an example. Ecclesiastics 4:9-10 says; “Two are better than one because they have a more satisfying return for their labour; for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and does not have another to lift him up.” how do you sow into relationships? By sowing love, by being sincere, by not being proud and arrogant, not keeping records of wrong   

These are the seeds that the rain comes to bud and cause to spring forth. Don’t be deceived, God is not mocked, whatever a man sows, that will he reap. You can’t reap less than what you have sowed. Your prosperity is rooted in what you sow. The rain does not prosper bread, it prospers seed. The measure of your worth is not determined by the seed you eat to be healthy or crush to have oil to make money, it is determined by the seed you sow and the quality of it. What you eat is only a reflection or an outflow of what you must have sown. If you will prosper exceedingly all the information written down here is for your learning, walk in the consciousness of this knowledge and the experience of Isaac will be your experience. Your dominion is inherent in your seed.

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Apeh Francis Abah!

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