THE HEART IS THE THING ( Introduction)
“Keep thy heart with all diligence;
for out of it are the issues of life.”
Proverb
4:23(KJV)
In 1870, Tetteh Quarshie undertook
a voyage to the Spanish colony Fernando Po (now Bioko in Equatorial Guinea),
and returned to Ghana after six years with several cocoa beans, instead of settling in his home
region of Greater Accra, Teshie to be specific, Tetteh Quarshie moved from the
plains of Accra to the fertile land of the Akuapim Hills, beyond the Aburi Mountains
to settle at Mampong in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Whiles at Mampong he acquired a land and started what is
known as the first cocoa farm in Ghana.
In 1879 Tetteh Quarshie planted the seeds at Mampong with some success. Friends and relatives also undertook the
planting of cocoa when pods were distributed to them.
Soon other farmers
followed suit. It was only at this point that the Basel Missionaries stepped
into the picture by importing large quantities of the crop into the country.
From the Gold Coast (Ghana) cocoa beans or cuttings were sent to other
countries such as Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The export of cocoa from Ghana
began in 1891, and the official export in 1893 (two bags exported). Ghana once
provided almost half of world output. Between 1910 and 1980 Ghana was the
world's largest exporter. This position was ceded due to bush fires. However,
Ghana's cocoa is still of the highest quality and the country earns hundreds of
millions of dollars annually from the export of the beans and processed
materials. Ghana economy heavily depends on the cocoa industry up to date.
Tetteh Quarshie brought from his trip, the main backbone of a Ghana’s economy
in the form of cocoa beans; the man carried a whole nation’s economy in his
hand. Cocoa is the most important
agricultural commodity Ghana produces and the mainstay of Ghana's economy.
Cocoa is Ghana's second leading foreign exchange earner, worth about 30 percent
of all revenue from export and responsible for about 57 percent of overall
agricultural export. The sector directly and indirectly employs about 2 million
people, and constitutes a large chunk of Ghana's GDP (8.1 percent in 2006). “So
what can Ghana do without cocoa? Can you imagine what Ghana could have possibly
been if there was no cocoa industry?
There would have been a loss of close to
two million jobs, loss of massive revenue and foreign exchange, a huge
shrinking of Ghana's economy, the stalling of infrastructural development
including health facilities, school children dropping out because of the
absence of support, and in the long term, a drastic reversal in efforts to
reduce poverty and attempts to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Ghana is
indeed cocoa and cocoa is Ghana. Cocoa is the lifeblood of Ghana's economy and
the heartbeat of Ghana's socio economic development. Views are sometimes even
expressed that the inability of weather conditions in the three Northern
regions of the country to support cocoa production is one of the reasons why
they are the poorest regions of Ghana, and that if cocoa production was
possible there; their economies would have been transformed by now.
You cannot
dispute an assertion as this even if you don't agree with it because it has no
scientific basis.” From the narrative of Tetteh Quarshie it is obvious that it was his
choice of land that made his experimental farm successful; there was nothing
wrong with the cocoa beans that he brought from the former Spanish of colony Fernando
Po, now Equatorial Guinea. However, he would have had a major setback If he had chosen the plains of
Accra as an avenue for his experimental farm because of the type of land and climate.
In Luke 8: 4 - 15(KJV) Jesus Christ gave a parable Called THE
PARABLE OF THE SOWER “And when much
people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake
by a parable: A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by
the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away,
because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang
up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and
bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that
hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him, saying,What
might this parable be?
And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries
of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not
see, and hearing they might not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed
is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the
devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe
and be saved. They on the rock are they,
which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which
for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they,
which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and
pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good
ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep
it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”
From the historical narrative of Tetteh Quarshie's first
cocoa farm in Ghana, to the scriptural narrative of the PARABLE OF THE SOWER, the
success factor in both scenario was the ground in which the seeds were sown in.
The choice of land is what accounted for the success of the seeds sown in these
two scenarios. All Tetteh Quarshie had to do for his experimental cocoa farm to
be successful was to find a good and fertile ground that was beyond Accra; that might explain why he
never settle in his hometown of Teshie in Accra when he returned from his
voyage, but move from the coast of Accra through the Accra plains to settle at
Mampong in the Eastern Region of Ghana.
The type of soil and the climate in
Mampong ensured the success of his farm. Similarly, in the case of the PARABLE
OF SOWER in Luke Chapter Eight it was the kind of ground that the seeds were
planted in that determined the various outcome of the four fields; the seeds
sown in the first three fields ( ground) weren’t successful because of the type
of soil and the climate around it, however Just the like the field of Mampong,
the fourth field which the bible refers to as the good (fertile) ground was very
successful in reproducing what was sown in it according to Luke 8:15(KJV) “But
that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having
heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.“.
The
remaining three grounds were unable to reproduce after the kind of seeds that
were sown in them because they lack the necessary nutrient and climate, just
like the way the ground and the climate in Accra was unable to ensure the
success of Tetteh Quarshie’s first experimental farm. The obvious factor in
both scenario is the fact that there was nothing wrong with seeds, but the
ground that the seeds were sown is where the challenge was. According the narrative in Luke 8:11 (KJV) the
seed represent the WORD OF GOD “Now the parable is this: The seed is the
word of God” and the ground
that the seed was sown in also represent the HEART OF MEN according Luke 8: 12
(KJV) “Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and
taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be
saved.”
There is often nothing
wrong with the WORD of God (The bible) but just as in the case of the Tetteh Quarshie
Experimental Farm at Mampong and the PARABLE OF THE SOWER in Luke chapter 8,
what determines our success relative to the word of God and to a larger extent
our relationship with God is our HEART- the truth is “THE HEART IS THE THING”
Our heart conditions are very
important in our walk with God, in fact salvation start in our heart Romans
10:9B (KJV) “……………………………………………………………………..shalt
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved.
“For from within, out of the heart of
men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,”
Mark 7:21
(KJV)
TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK WITH A SUB TOPIC -“WHAT IS THE HEART”…………..
If you have been blessed by this article or you have any questions kindly leave your comments
Thank you for this teaching. What is the differece between quiding your mind and guiding your heart? To me, my mind is the starting point of going contrary to the word of God. When Jesus was tempted, I strongly believe it was battle of the mind. Satan was manipulating His mind. When issue get into your heart, it means the sin has been committed already, maybe that explains why Jesus said if you look at a woman and lust for her in your heart then .......cc d dad
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteSorry for the delay in replying this question. Yeah , I agree with you to some extent that mind is the starting point of going against God, but to a larger extent the main starting points of going against God are : (1) Our Eyes - What we see and watch around, (2) what hear and listen to . That is why it is important to be careful what you read, watch, and listen to, because the information you pick through these mediums goes into your mind and once it there, the process continues, that is why Psalm 1:2 “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” once you are in the midst of the sinners and scornful, you bound to hear and see ungodly stuff. That is why we must be careful of what and who we open ourselves to. The heart is the final approval point of all our actions, it becomes like what is coined in the financial sector as the “ the clearing House” , and once any information is cleared there it will implemented, but we must take note, the mind and the heart are interconnected, they work hand in hand. The mind, kind of act as filter to the heart, whatever it filters goes straight into in the heart. The scriptures says that in Mat 15:18 - 20 (KJV) “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. So although our mind are part of the problem, I think the THE HEART IS THE THING, if we can fill our heart with word of God, it will reject any ungodly things that mind filters.