I am introducing a new idea to the blog. I would like to take a look at a Bible story moment and give my thoughts about. Now I'm not a scholar, just a student of the Word. One thing I enjoy is exchanging ideas about what Scripture means and how it applies to our lives. I welcome your thoughts.
Jesus uses parables to teach. His red threads are told in such a way that He brought truth using everyday objects or relationships with something familiar and compared it to the unfamiliar. The parable of the sower, Matthew 13, Jesus teaches about sowing seeds in different kinds of soil.
Some seeds fell on the path ~ rocks ~ thorns ~ fertile soil.
The rock solid. The soil conditions represent the heart rediness and the different responses to God's message. Some hearts are hardened, like a slab of cement, so hard that seeds bounce and scatter like marbles rolling on a slick, glass topped table. They go everywhere and are only stopped by something in their path. That type of heart is unpenatrable and totally consumed with sin. Those seeds are prey for easy consumption for the enemy.
The rock garden. Another type of soil is the rock riddled ground. With so many cracks, crevices and uneven surfaces, the final destination of the seeds are deflected. Direct contact with dirt is difficult. The rocks act like a raised shield of the Starship Enterprise, fending off all phasers and photon torpedos. The seeds rarely make it to the inner sanctum of soil or worse yet, are wedged tightly between a rock and a hard place. If the seeds make it to the dark and uncovered places, there isn't growth because it is easily snuffed out by the lack of light and shallow root room. This heart doesn't allow truth to take hold and sink roots.
The sticker patch. This decent ground for seed sowing is so crowded with weeds, thorns and stickers that there is no room to flourish. The seeds are easily choked out by unwanted vegetation. This is where the wild things hang out and distract with dangling shiny things and worries of this life. This heart has been easily influenced by the ways of the world, thus choking out any growth that might take place.
The rich soil. This soil is weedless, fertilized, tilled and so loose that it allows for deep roots and strong stalks to grow and flourish. The seeds find an ample space to engage in the earth and produce a fruit worthy of a blue ribbon worthy at the county fair. This heart is ready, righteous, and open to the work of God.
This world is full of rich, rocky, stone cold hearts that are in different places in their spiritual walk. As Christians, our job is to sow the Jesus seeds so that the Holy Spirit can work and reach right where hearts are and bring them to harvest. That's what God does...
He sows
He plants
He waters
He fertilizes
He prunes
He cultivates
He harvests
He nurtures and cares.
The ready soil. The focus here is not on the seeds but on the soil. This parable encourages spiritual sowers to be ready and persistent to sow the seeds of the gospel. Let's not be discouraged when obvious growth is not seen in the immediate. We have plenty of opportunities for God's seeds to be sown, to use our hands to serve, and our feet to take the Gospel message to those who need to know Him. Now let's get to work.
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