1 Peter 1:23 For we have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
So many people in the West are disconnected from the sources of our food. We don’t grow our own food in the garden in our back yards as the generations before us. We don’t know about the process of food production. Instead, we drive up to the back of a building, speak into a box, roll down the window, reach out our hands and food is dropped in them. We open the magic bag and our food appears.
One aspect of planting crops is the timing of the planting of the seeds. If you plant too early, then the seedlings run the risk of cold weather, freezing weather. If it is too cold, the plants spend more time growing in cold and less sunlight, leaving them vulnerable to pests.
The seeds are also vulnerable to damp conditions. If it is too damp, too cold, not enough sunshine, then they can rot. So, instead of growing a healthy plant, the seed spoils before it can even sprout through the surface of the soil. Or it begins to grow and then rots in its infancy.
The conditions for growth must be correct or the plant isn’t fruitful. The seed perishes.
Many years ago I spent a short time doing door to door sales. I was terrible at it. I couldn’t get enough people to sign on the dotted line. From my perspective, I was asking people to spend money at a time when I felt the money crunch personally to such a degree that I was desperate for a sale. I projected that poverty of mindset onto the customers and couldn’t put them in a money crunch like I was in at the time.
And once a customer had said the “No,” I couldn’t circle back around to bring them to a “Yes.” The timing was off. I took them at their word, a bad thing if you want to make sales. The potential sale had died.
WE seen that some people seemingly start to grow in their relationship with the LORD, only to not grow to maturity. Somewhere along the growth path something happens that stops the growth, perhaps even killing their faith. So instead of continuing to draw closer to Him, they begin to grow closer to something or someone else, perhaps even returning to their old life.
The author of our text today wants to encourage his readers who, because of a rise in persecution, could easily move back in their faith. They could die on the fine, not bearing the fruit that demonstrates the purpose of their faith. They become unfruitful.
Our text tells us that the Word of God is the agent of that growth. It is the seed that was sown in the heart, and that seed won’t fail to produce fruit. He tells us that the seed is imperishable. It won’t rot. It will fulfill its purpose and bring fruit.
So if someone fails to continue in their growth, it is not the seed’s problem. It is good seed, imperishable seed. It must instead be the soil in which it was planted that brings the unfruitfulness into existence. The seed is good.
So few people are engaging with the Word these days, at least here in the Western church. We have so many distractions available to us, that we frequently traverse our life solo. We neglect the one thing that will guarantee the success of the seed in our soil.
We must plant God’s Word in our hearts and then allow the Word to nourish and water the seed. The Word is both the seed and the key ingredient in a successful crop. Our seed needs water and nutrients to survive and grow. The Word fulfills all those roles.
The Arnold Journey 