Kingdom People – Sons of the Kingdom 

Know thy feed store manager! As a kid, I enjoyed trips to the feed store with my grandfather.  Actually, it was a feed and seed store where farmers purchased food for their livestock as well as seed for their fields.  But most people called it the feed store for short.  Besides, the store also sold fertilizer, insecticides and herbicides, and there was no way all of those things would fit on a sign.

My grandfather trusted his feed store. It may sound far-fetched to think of the distribution of seed as a fraudulent industry, but trust me; anyplace you find a commodity that can be mimicked or manipulated in any way someone will find a way to cheat people.  It’s amazing how the price of a bag of feed or seed can go up when you tear off a tag and call it something else.

One thing is for sure: what goes in the ground will come out of the ground. As the Bible says, “You reap what you sow” (Galatians 6:7).  This truth was made clear in one of Jesus’ parables found in Matthew 13:24-44.  A farmer sowed some good wheat seed, but in the middle of the night an enemy came and sowed weeds.  When the wheat started to sprout and the farmer’s servants reported the problem, he told them to let the good and bad seed grow together.  The plants would be sorted at the end of the growing season and the weeds would be burned.

Jesus’ parable foretells an event at the end of time when God will separate the righteous from the unrighteous, or the saved from the unsaved. No one will be saved on their own merit, but rather because they have been made righteous through the blood of Jesus.  It is easy to see why we would want to be counted among the good seed.

So why is it important to know our feed store manager? Well, experience tells me the places we invest our time will determine the seed we become.  Later, Jesus told His disciples the weeds were sown by the “evil one” and the good seed by the “Son of Man.”  The seeds themselves are the “sons of the evil one” and the “sons of the kingdom”, respectively.  This means, if we hang out at the “Evil One and Sons” feed store, we are certain to raise hell (sorry).  But if we become seeds of faith that flow from “Jesus’ Feed and Seed” store, we are going to produce a bumper crop of righteousness.  We reap what we sow, so we need to not only be careful what we sow, but also what we become.

Are there really people who would take advantage of customers by passing off bad seed for good? Yes.  There are those with selfish ambition who don’t care who they hurt in the process of making a buck.  In the same way, Satan doesn’t really care what happens to us.  He only wants to break God’s heart, and if that means making us miserable and destroying our future, that’s fine with him.  He is the bad seed maker; the thorn-bush grower.

Most of us could probably make a quick list of bad environments where we are likely to pick up weed seed habits that lead to destruction. The world makes sin attractive, and sometimes it takes a while for its fruit to be obvious.  But do not be deceived.  Sinful seed will produce sinful behavior, which leaves lasting consequences.

How do we become good “kingdom seed”? We study the scriptures, make ourselves accountable to others in the church body, and model our lives after Jesus.  The Holy Spirit helps in the process as he convicts, prods, comforts and guides.

What kind of seed are you becoming?  In our world you have a choice.  The seed you choose will grow into the life you lead, and the legacy you leave.