Did you know that if you give God one hundred percent of your attention that you can have one hundred fold return of Him—His provision, His presence, His surety in your life? It’s true that is what Jesus taught us in Mark 4, that if we give God our attention, depending upon how much attention we give Him, we can have up to one hundred fold return of fruit. If we give our time to sow His Word in our hearts we can have that much (one hundred fold) of His will in our lives.
Mark 4:20 And those sown on the good (well-adapted) soil are the ones who hear the Word and receive and accept and welcome it and bear fruit—some thirty times as much as was sown, some sixty times as much, and some [even] a hundred times as much.
What is fruit? Provision—it is His will in our lives. Provision for whatever your need is. Fruit is God’s answers, His wisdom, His presence, God in our lives.
So what’s the problem then, why don’t we do what Jesus said to get that one hundred fold return? Why don’t we stay on that narrow path He designed for us that leads to His will ? Why don’t we stay attentive to His Word?
The answer is we haven’t take Jesus seriously. We read what He has said but we don’t acknowledge it and if we won’t acknowledge it, then we won’t understand it and that causes us to doubt, thus we wander for a more comfortable way. Our flesh screams for it’s own way, it’s wants, and so we give into it, giving Jesus, the Word—little or no attention.
Even if our intentions are right Jesus warned us the enemy would come to take the Word from us. Jesus even warned us how the enemy would proceed in his manipulation (Mark 4:11-19).
The antidote Jesus said is to get to know God by giving Him one hundred percent of our attention. Then we will get back one percent of His will in our life.
You may be thinking as do many that you can’t give God one hundred percent of your time. If so, let me ask you this. When you met that person you married, at first did you give him or her your unending attention? You did, you found time to not only to be with that person but to think about that person all the time. You took time for that person — that person in fact took up all of your time. The results? After you took that time, you came to know him/her and you now have that person for eternity. You married that person and had a hundred fold return for your time spent. A hundred fold return was your reward! You have that person in your life all the time now.
Same thing holds true with God, will you have to take time for Him. He showed you love, He proposed to you. Will you marry Him? Or will you just date Jesus once in a while? Know that if you choose to just date Jesus, you also make the choice to be eligible for only 30, 60 or less of Him in your life. Also if you pay Jesus little attention by just dating Him, if you won’t marry Him you are at risk of losing Him. Even what you had Jesus said will be taken from you (Mark 4:24-25).
Yes I know we have an enemy and he will be your enemy as long as you don’t join sides with him. But, if you choose the Greater One, He lives in you and He, Jesus, the Greater One has overcome the enemy already for you. Your part is to decide you will believe that truth—and when you do, then you will be serious about and be attentive to follow the instructions Jesus gave you to overcome.
Revelation 3:5 Thus shall he who conquers (is victorious) be clad in white garments, and I will not erase or blot out his name from the Book of Life; I will acknowledge him [as Mine] and I will confess his name openly before My Father and before His angels.