"And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God (Hos. 2:23).

     Every gardener must sow some seeds if he expects to have a garden; all that grows naturally is weeds.

     The Lord wanted a garden for Himself and came to earth as a man to sow His seed so that He might have a people - a garden - for Himself.

     Now He tells His people to follow Him - to sow His seed.  He says that if we do it, as He did it, we shall reap in joy (Psa. 126:5-6).  

      As we sow the seed, we will see that there are four different effects.  Sometimes it falls on ground so hard that it stops the seed from developing; the birds (Satan) eat it right away.  Sometimes it falls on stony ground where there is only a little earth.  It springs up a little, but because it doesn't have any root (the Lord Jesus Christ), it withers away from the heat of the sun.  Sometimes it grows up but there are so many thorns around it that they choke the plant and it never bears any fruit; thorns such as cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things.  Then there is the seed that falls on good ground - ground that the Lord has cultivated and made good, and this always bears fruit, some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundredfold (Mk. 4:3-8, 14-20).

     If we want to grow well and produce fruit for our Lord, we must follow our Lord. He says, "…Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" (Jn. 12:24).

     We (our corrupt seed) must die to self through the work of His Spirit so that Christ may dwell in our hearts and we become rooted and grounded in love (Lk. 9:23-24, Eph. 3:16-19).  

     Only then will we be rooted and built up, established in the faith, abounding with thanksgiving (Col. 2:7).