In the parable of the sower, found in Matt. 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8, Jesus shares a simple story with the crowds... how a man went out to sow some seed, and in the process, this ‘seed’ fell on various types of soil. He then briefly describes what happens to the seed given the various conditions it found itself in. Of the four types of ground it landed on, it was only the ‘good ground’ where the seed was able to take deep root and go on to bear much fruit.

Later on, when alone with His disciples, they asked Jesus to explain what it was He was trying to convey in that simple lesson on agriculture, because it was apparently lost on them. It’s important to note here that Jesus was happy to ‘explain’ to them...what the parable meant, even adding that the ‘mysteries of the kingdom’ are only shared or ‘revealed’ to those who come to Him (Matt. 13:11-13; Mark 4:33-34). You really ought to take a moment with that and consider the implications being shared in those two passages.

The reason I pause here to point this out is because something ‘interesting’ happens when this ‘seed’ is sown, as Jesus reveals to us in scripture. He explained to His followers that the seed represents the ‘word of God’ (Mark 4:14; Luke 8:11-12)...and when that seed was sown and landed on the path, (ground which had been trodden upon)...’birds’ came and swallowed up the seed, which Jesus then explained how the birds represent the ‘devil’ or ‘Satan’ who ‘comes immediately to take away the word out of their hearts...lest they believe and are saved’.

Would you care to guess why this ‘spiritual entity’ would even be remotely interested in doing this...taking or snatching God’s word from our ...hearts? Take a look at 1 Thess. 2:13 where Paul writes:

“Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received His message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.” (NewLivingTranslation)

The word of God was/is designed and intended...to supernaturally ‘work in’...those who receive and believe it, and I have no doubt that this explains what happened to me that evening at work shortly after I had prayed with my foreman to ‘give my heart/life to God’. If you read yesterday’s message, I was sharing some of my personal testimony and left you with what transpired in the hours immediately following that prayer. My mind was bombarded with all these ‘negative’ thoughts that had me questioning what I had just done, belittling me, ridiculing me...suggesting I was ‘weak and vulnerable’ and in danger of becoming brainwashed by a ‘cult’...etc. It was the oddest thing to experience this.

Midway into the shift, Glen, (my foreman who prayed with me) rode up to check in with me to see how I was doing; and I was very candid with him, voicing all these doubts and how I was second guessing what I had done by praying and all this Bible stuff and getting closer to God. I will never forget his initial response. He smiled and then began to chuckle, which puzzled me, so I asked him what was so funny. With his eyes glistening from joyful tears, he explained to me that whenever a person turns to God and expresses a desire to follow Him, that the ‘devil’ will do all he can to try and thwart, hinder, and stop the process. He assured me that he would be praying for me and then road off.

I...was incredulous. A ‘devil’... was at work here? Now I knew...I was in a cult. Never in my life had I even considered such an entity existing outside of dramatic Hollywood-hyped movies. I honestly did not know what to do with this new piece of information and so for the remainder of that shift, I wrestled with all the implications as I tried to grasp for understanding as to what was happening within me. My shift ended at midnight so as usual, I ‘punched out’ and rode my motorcycle home to the apartment that I shared with a good friend.

As I was walking in the front door, I pulled a ‘joint’ out of my pocket to light up and was stopped in my tracks with this uncanny moment of questioning whether I should be smoking this weed now that I had become a ‘Christian’. And that struck me as being odd since I had never questioned previously whether getting high was 'right or wrong'; and Glen had certainly not given me some list of "do’s and don'ts" to follow. Then, out of nowhere, this thought subtly found its way into my stream of thinking: “Well...God made it”, which made me smile in agreement. So I lit up and proceeded into the quiet apartment taking a couple of ‘hits’ while preparing to unwind before going to bed.

Let me just say here for the sake of brevity that what transpired over the next hour was the most horrifying and frightful experience I have ever had in my 65 years of living. That night, some 9 hours after praying a simple prayer to commit my life to following Jesus, God used that moment to ‘open my eyes’ to a spiritual realm of darkness and evil in which this world is immersed in. I certainly was not aware or concerned about the ‘world’ itself at that moment in time as I was fighting for my own survival from this ‘force or power of darkness’ that was tormenting my soul. I remember crawling into my bed and trying to escape this nightmarish ‘attack’ as I burrowed deep under the covers, finding no relief. It was then that I grabbed my Bible laying nearby and clutched it to my chest and began to cry out to God for help. When I prayed, I found some relief as if some force of good or ‘light’ was pulling me back, but when I eased up praying...it was like this dark force was pulling me back into some darkened abyss.

No one will ever convince me otherwise that there was a war for my soul taking place that night. And the next thing I knew, my eyes cracked open and the morning sunlight was filtering in through the window. I was curled up in my bed in a fetal position, still clutching my Bible and I so clearly remember being aware that I was ‘alive’. The first thing that hit the floor were my knees as I poured out my heart of gratitude to God...thanking Him for His deliverance and protection. And it was in that moment...where it was made known to me that I lived in a world that had a spiritual component to it, one that consisted of great darkness and evil...and that I would do well to make note of it and not ever forget it. Can I just tell you that it is not hard to ‘forget’ that lesson over time when we ‘grow at ease in Zion’ and settle into complacency as we fail to give heed to His word...and begin to ‘drift’ away. (Amos 6:1; Zeph. 1:12; Heb. 2:1). I will continue on tomorrow....Lord willing.