The power of the seed at work with the people in our lives • Deshen Daily

But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way (Matthew 13:25, KJV)

The seed principle is found everywhere in scripture. It has extensively been used, misused, and abused in the area of finances but it is not limited to giving. Figuratively, a seed is anything, often small and sometimes even negligible, which has the potential and capacity to become something really big! Let me show you how this works in our relationships with others.

In the scripture above, Jesus was teaching the people the parable of the wheat and tares. A farmer sowed wheat, and at night, his enemy came behind him and sowed tares or weeds. After sowing the tares, the enemy went his way. I want you to get into the story to understand what is happening fully. The enemy came into the piece of ground. He did not destroy one thing in that land. The only thing he did was sow seeds of tares and left. The seeds were not even visible, and no one knew about it until the tares started showing up. Why did the enemy not bother to destroy the ground or even unearth the seed of wheat planted? He did not care. He had confidence in the seed of tares he had sown. If you have grasped this, let me now use a real-life example in the scripture. Let us turn to father Abraham.

Abraham went to Egypt because of famine, and when he left, he took with him a little maid called Hagar. We are not told how old Hagar was, but after Abraham returned to Canaan and stayed there for ten years, Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to be his wife to bare him children(Gen. 16:3). Hagar was now ten years older, certainly not the small girl she might have been when they left Egypt. He was now a full-blown woman. When Sarah took Hagar ten years earlier from Egypt, little did she know that little girl will one day become a potent competitor for her husband and marriage. Egypt planted Hagar as a seed in Abraham’s life. When the seed grew, it almost ruined Abraham’s marriage and the redemptive plan of God for all humanity. Today, the world is still paying the price for the little seed Egypt sowed into Abraham’s life.

Jesus later explained to us that those seeds represent people; the wheat represents God’s children, and the tares(weeds) represent the ungodly. Relationships are powerful. There are people Satan will destroy completely by simply bringing the wrong people into their lives, whether in marriage, friendship, business partners, etc. Maybe you have already experienced the power of the relationship seeds. Some of you might even remember that your life changed for the worse the day that man or that woman came in. Sadly for some, that can even pinpoint the day their lives were forever was changed, when they engaged in this activity or that with that person.

Satan knows spiritual realities about us that many of us do not know. There are some of you reading this devotional with such a glorious destiny over your life. However, Satan is waiting to sow a dangerous seed into your life. He knows you might never mess around sexually, watch pornography, go to strip club, use drugs, steal etc. He will look for an opportunity to sow someone in your life that will have an influence over you and drag your destiny to the grave. It might be a friend or even a marriage partner. On the positive note, there are people in your life that God will also send because they will be a seed that will cause your life to flourish. Be careful with the seeds in your life. The people we associate with have a powerful influence in our lives and do not make a mistake of looking at how small the seed is and despising the destruction or blessings that can result from it.

MEDITATE

Can you think of people in your life that were seeds of wheat and those who were tares? Think about the experiences you have had with people that left a remarkable change in your life, whether positive or negative.

APPLY THE WORD

Scripture says bad company corrupts good manners( 1 Cor. 15:33). Do not allow Satan to sow tares into your life. Be careful with people you call friends or role-models (not just acquaintances), that is, who are closely related to you and have some degree of influence over you. Do not allow the enemy to sow bad seeds on your land. It may take 10 or even 25 years to develop but when it grows, it will bear a fruit you will surely not cherish.