The Gospel Seed and nature

David Attenborough talks much of the created world around us, yet does not recognise God as the author of it all. For most of my Christian walk I have neglected Attenborough because of his constant promotion of evolution and take on the origins of the universe. He is very wrong about a lot of things. It scares me how he is so close to eternity and has fed people excuses to reject God.

If you can get past all of the lies he promotes and look at the created world he talks about, it is possible to worship the Lord and be in awe of Him through it all.

The great parallel of nature with the Gospel seed

One of the clips that struck me as a great parallel to evangelism and spreading of the Gospel is how God has designed seeds and the different ways that seeds germinate.

Watch this video:

The Sea Heart or Entada gigas seed.

Initially David speaks about the seed that is full of air. So when it lands on water it floats in order to get to the right place. Known as the Sea Heart or Entada gigas. If you were to drop this seed into the sea, it could travel anywhere around the world – wherever the currents would take it.

Have you heard the story of the man on George Street in Sydney (Mr Genor)? He gave out Gospel tracts regularly in his port town. Speaking to people as he did so “Are you saved? If you died today, would you go to heaven?” This is a very good example of how the Gospel seed can cross oceans and bring forth fruit in distant lands. A side note, we produced our orange Gospel tract with the front title with a similar question to Mr Genor, because we heard this amazing testimony.

Coco de mer, or double coconut seed

“The biggest and heaviest seed of them all” can weigh up to 18kg! That’s weighty. When listening about this seed, it reminds me of the weighty responsibility of teaching the Gospel to our own household. If you have children or if you have an unbelieving spouse. The seed of the Gospel lands not far from where you are and you have a duty to be a big testimony to those who are around you day in day out. The “strategy of” that seed “is not to travel at all.”

For children, “the seed falls from the parent tree….”

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” 3 John 1:4

It’s interesting that the Bible describes the walking of our children in the truth as being a great joy. Not just a great joy, but “no greater joy.” It’s there where I see it as weighty – not just because we need to be such an important witness that God will use, but it’s weighty because of the great joy it will be when someone we love so dearly turns to Christ and follows after Him.

Sometimes we won’t live to see our children or loved ones come to faith. And so the hope is that when we die, we carve a great space or footstep for the dear loved one to follow in. Oh that they may grow into a greater tree of greater worship to the Lord, bringing forth much more fruit to the glory of His Name! “A perfect place in the sun awaits it.”

The Dandelion Seed

This seed, (as you can find as the them on our website), is one that is carried great distances by the wind to continue a legacy, as the video puts it. This very much illustrates the great sovereignty of God in His works of salvation. All seeds do, because we don’t know where, if and when they will sprout. But this one in particular brings to mind one of the hardest truths a Christian has to face. God does things His way and in His timing under His conditions.

“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8.

Essentially, this verse teaches us that just as the dandelion seed is blown to an unknown location, to take root at an unknown time and bring forth life at a moment only known to God – So is the Gospel seed carried in the heart of the unbeliever to bring forth new life at a time and location only known to God.

Seeds landing in obscure places.

Breaking from this first video, I saw another video where Attenborough was talking about the way plants and flowers take over a building if we were to simply leave it to the elements. Amongst this, there were plants that were growing on walls. This struck me as strange. If you were to ask someone the top ten places you would expect a seed to grow, would a hole in the wall make it to the top five? Or even in the top ten at all?

This is a great illustration that what in nature looks impossible (when planting Gospel seeds), is possible with God.

I am sure you have met many different people whom you have shared the Gospel with. It’s so very easy to look at them and judge where they are and think “God won’t save them.” But I wonder how many people would have thought that about Saul of Tarsus?

Like the plant growing in the wall, Saul of Tarsus is a great example that God can save anyone in the most obscure of places. Bringing forth that Gospel fruit – humbling our preconceived ideas about what God does and does not do.

When you next go for a walk, look around you at the obscure places that plants and trees and flowers grow. Let them be an encouragement to you that the Gospel seed can bring forth great fruit to the Glory of the Lord.

Our duty with the Gospel seed.

Remember, the power of the Gospel is in the seed, not the person who places the seed. I am reminded of when I was a child and my father tended to an allotment. I was given a little patch to work on and planted some seeds. I don’t recall anything coming from those seeds. But if God wanted them to bring something forth, He certainly could have.

“I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” 1 Corinthians 3:6

We are commanded to plant seeds. But we may never see the results. We may also be ones who water the seed by our obedience to Christ in our lives. But at the end of the day, it is God who brings the increase.

In the scheme of things we are nothing.

“So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.” 1 Corinthians 3:7

It’s a sovereign work of God the way in which the seed of the Gospel brings forth life. We might be like those who will plead with the Lord to heal Lazarus straight away. But He will do more than we can ever expect – He will raise him from the dead days later.

There are times we will see the labour of our work.

I know of a man who spent some time preaching the Gospel to strangers. He was travelling home and stopped somewhere for food. He gave a tract to the person who works there. Later they walked over to him crying and thanked him. She said she was so thankful because she was planning to do something she would regret otherwise.

I personally gave a tract to someone on the street who told me they knew the message, that they had sinned before God and if they were to die, they would end up in eternal punishment. But she did not know what she must do to be saved. I was able to fill in the gap. I believe after that event the girl was attending a fellowship.

There are times where we won’t see the labour of our work.

I have had conversations on the street where the circumstances have been so shocking, that you know God brought about the conversation. But then I would go on to never meet that person again.

There are some cities where I have handed out Gospel tracts and never seen anyone have any interest in eternal things at all. But by faith, we can trust that as His message goes forth, it will not return void see Isaiah 55:11.

We are not called to walk by sight, but by faith and to be faithful. Think about the seeds. Think about the beauty they bring forth testifying of God’s creative hand – some seeds now. Some seeds later.

Free Gospel Seeds to help you

Here at Printing Evangelism, we supply many free printed items to help you fulfil the great commission. For example, Free Gospel seeds / Tracts, Free Bible posters and articles like this one. Contact us today for help when it comes to all things print and evangelism.

Why not share with us (in the comments below) some encounters you have had with people while sharing the Gospel.