Where I live in Southern California we try to grow grass in almost desert like conditions. Apart from an occasional attempt to sow wild flowers, my only repeated experience of sowing seeds was scattering grass seed over the soil.

Our "lawn"

We covered the seed with wire netting, we added compost to the soil to make it richer and we watered it consistently when we remembered. I have to say “we” as, to be honest, my husband, Martyn, has been more wholehearted in his attempts to grow the grass than me.

Our livelihood does not rely on the success or the failure of our grass seed and nor does our eternal future. This is apparent because much of our grass has died thanks to the birds, rabbits, the scorching sun and the lack of water. We have left the ground bare. We have simply given up. For a farmer this would be a catastrophe but for us we simply put up with ugliness.

In Matthew 13 when Jesus told the story about the sower, it is likely that most understood seed sowing much better than me but they may have struggled to understand the meaning of Jesus’ story. Some of the seed fell on the path and was eaten by birds. In verse 18, Jesus explains that the soil is like a person’s heart and when the seed is immediately snatched away from the path it is like Satan snatching away the good news from a listener’s heart. Perhaps a friend shows a moment of interest during a conversation or after a Christian movie and then Satan distracts her or presents her with doubt or confusion.

Perhaps you are like I was when I was a teenager, when I did not believe in Satan or the Devil or Lucifer. These are all names for the enemy of Jesus who is also described in the Bible as “the father of lies” and the “evil one”. He is not an illusion but a cunning evil being who is more powerful than us but less powerful than Jesus. If we do not allow Jesus to help us, Satan will deceive us. No wonder many people fail to really hear the words of hope that Jesus offers. They are under his spell.

Please recognize that the power of darkness is very strong and unless we have specifically prayed for Jesus to set us free from Satan’s deception, we will be blinded by it. The Amplified version of the Bible explains that “the god of the world has blinded the unbelievers’ minds (that they should not discern the truth), preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (the Messiah), who is the Image and Likeness of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4). The little ‘g’ in the word god makes it clear that the one doing the blinding is not Almighty God but His enemy the devil.

If you agree with what I have written, I hope that you will see clearly that one of the reasons that many people are not Christians is because they are blinded by unbelief by a powerful and evil deceiver. If we did not take action by putting netting over our grass seed nothing would be left. The local birds would get fatter and fatter. Satan is compared with the birds in Jesus’ story.

Is there any preventative action that we can take to protect one another from Satan’s grip, like covering the seed with netting? Absolutely there is! In the most famous prayer in the Bible, the Lord’s prayer, Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, including “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” We are taught to resist Satan through prayer and as we do so we need to ask Christ to arm us with Spiritual armor for protection. This is described in Ephesians chapter 6. Paul exhorts us to “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6: 11-12).

We are not merely looking at a sweet story about birds and seed. Jesus’ story illustrates the threatening and dreadful attack of a supernatural enemy who has spiritual forces of evil under him. Let’s wake up from any ill informed lethargy and read Ephesians chapter 6. In prayer ask Jesus to equip you with the spiritual “armor” that you need and find Christian friends to join in the prayer battle. The Devil threatens the growth of all the seeds, trying to stop the growth of faith in human hearts. Jesus already won the battle when he died on the cross and rose again two thousand years ago. We must spend time reading His word, the Bible and praying for His protection. Wake up and pray, for human lives are at stake, including our own.

Related posts:

1. A Child of God, or a Child of the Devil? Do we understand that there should be a dramatic difference between someone who is a...
2. Preaching the Bible: Tickling Ears or Proclaiming Truth? This evening  I will be  one of five people at Pomerado Christian Church to meet...
3. Challenge others with God’s truth Living in the US is often a very positive experience. The waiters and waitresses are...
4. A baby Christian I have described how Jesus began to change my life when I started as a...
5. Christians should expect persecution I am continuing to reflect on Jesus’ story: the parable of the sower in Matthew...

 Email This Post