2/28/2020 – The Parable of the Sower
Passage: Luke 8:4-15
Written By: Breanna Williams – Undergrad
My family and I have attempt to grow a garden every year, but every year, we just end up with a really sad pile of dirt with tomato and pepper plant twigs sticking out of it because we get busy and forget about it until it’s too late (R.I.P. fresh salsa 🙁). One of the biggest problems we have, though, is that we don’t have the best spot with the best soil to plant the seeds in. Watering it, killing the bugs, and preventing wild animals from eating the plants is important, but the most essential part to having a successful garden is where you decide to plant the seeds and how fertile that soil is. Without good soil, nothing will be able to grow.
“The seed that fell on the footpath represented those who hear the message but don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts. The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced.”
When seeds aren’t placed in fertile soil, they can’t produce a harvest, much like how God’s word can’t have the impact on people He intends for it to if they only hear His message but don’t truly listen. We see so many people who claim to hear God’s word but then act the opposite from what God’s word tells us to do. Or, people’s relationship with Him is shattered as soon as life is anything less than good – much like Jesus explained with the seeds whose plants shriveled up because they had shallow roots. Being a Christian isn’t exactly a cake walk, especially in today’s world where everything that is promoted seems to go against what God says. But, when we truly ground ourselves in God’s word and choose to live out the life He tells us to, even when things get hard or we’re told by the world to turn the other way, that seed will flourish.
“And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.”
God has called us to do more than just hear His word. He tells us to cling to it… not listen to it once a week for an hour, not to cradle it like it’s fragile, not hold it loosely… but cling to it, because in this case, our lives truly depend on it. When we deeply root ourselves in God’s word, we not only establish that unshakable connection with our Father and our Savior Jesus Christ, but we also provide the fertile soil needed for the seed of God’s word to flourish, and over time, to produce a harvest that can be used to spread that seed of God’s word to those who don’t have those roots in His word established yet. That harvest won’t happen overnight though, which is why Jesus says, “patiently produce a huge harvest”. We have to first allow the seed of God’s word to grow and flourish in ourselves before we can begin to share the harvest with those around us. So, think about what type of environment you have planted the seed of God’s Word in inside your life. Can it be easily uprooted? Or is so deeply woven into your heart and life that neither rocks, nor drought, nor birds, nor Satan himself can pluck that seed out of the soil you have planted it in?