So as I was asking God where He wanted
me to read next in His word. He inspired me to slowly work my way
through the parables of Jesus. The first of which is the parable of
the sower. I started discussing with some of the people on my team
what God was revealing to me through this story and we started
getting into a great discussion. Then the thought occurred to me, as
much as I love discussions why not have a blog discussion. This is
my first attempt at a “blog discussion”. Once a week I’ll give
the parable of the week and what God spoke to me about it. You can
feel free to agree, disagree, ask questions, answer questions, give
your insight or perspective, etc. I think this will be a great way
for us all to learn something out of this.
So like I said earlier, the first
parable I decided to study was the parable of the sower. Found in
the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke. This parable is one of the few
that have a recorded explanation by Jesus. So it’s tempting to just
skim by it and not to ask God if there’s anything He wants to teach
you from it.
And
he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out
to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the
birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where
they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since
they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched.
And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell
among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds
fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty,
some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”
(Mat
13:3-9) (ESV)
“Hear
then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the
kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches
away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the
path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears
the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in
himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution
arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what
was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the
cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word,
and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is
the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit
and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in
another thirty.”
(Mat
13:18-23) (ESV)
After a week of meditating and praying
about this passage God has spoken a few things to me. First off that
the sower is every follower of Christ. If the seeds are the word
then we are the speakers of the word, and that is a responsibility we
all share. I also find it strange that the sower would sow seed on a
path, rocks, and thorns. Anyone who knows anything about gardening
would have the sense not to do that. But how often do we do that
when if comes to sharing the Good News with someone? We look at
someones life or the situation their in and we assume that they
wouldn’t accept the seed. When really we forget that its just our
job to sow, it’s God’s job to grow and harvest. I’m not going to
talk about the various things that could go wrong during the seeds
life. Because thats really what Jesus focuses on in His explanation.
But something that did strike me at the end was the last verse where
it talks about the seed on good soil yielding “…a
hundredfold…”. This brought to mind another verse in Matthew
19:29:
And
everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or
mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a
hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.
(Mat
19:29)
This is pretty much a promise by Jesus
that the fruit you bear is in direct correlation with how much you
sacrifice to God.
So…now its your turn. I’m looking
forward to hearing from everyone, and seeing your responses.
