Takeaways from the parable of the sower

More often, whenever we hear a sermon about the parable of the sower, we get the idea of how we may fail to receive the good but not how sometimes being the hard ground by the way side that prevents the seed from sprouting at all can be good for us. In the parable, Jesus talks about a farmer who goes out to sow seeds. The seeds are scattered in different places; on a path, on rocky ground, among thorns, and in good soil. The conditions under which the seeds fell determined whether they grew and how lasting and fruitful their growth was. The hard ground by the way side prevents the seed from sprouting at all, and the seeds are eaten by birds. The stony ground provides enough soil for the seeds to germinate and begin to grow, but because there is “no deepness of earth,” the plants do not take root and are soon withered in the sun. The thorny ground allows the seed to grow, but the competing thorns choke the life out of the beneficial plants. The good ground receives the seed and produces much fruit.

The word

Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the Sower highlights four different responses to the gospel. The seed is the word of the kingdom. The hard ground represents someone who is hardened by sin; he hears but does not understand the word, and Satan plucks the message away, keeping the heart dull and preventing the word from making an impression. The stony ground represents a man who professes delight with the Word; however, his heart is not changed, and when trouble arises, his so-called faith quickly disappears. The thorny ground depicts one who seems to receive the word, but whose heart is full of riches, pleasures, and lusts; the things of this world take his time and attention away from the Word, and he ends up having no time for it. The good ground portrays the one who hears, understands, and receives the word—and then allows the word to accomplish its result in his life. The man represented by the “good ground” is the only one of the four who is truly saved, because salvation’s proof is fruit.

Fertile ground

The principle of exponential growth is demonstrated in the seeds that fell on fertile ground and as followers of Christ we need to take advantage of this principle because God in his generosity has ordained that where the right conditions for a particular thing exists then certainly it will grow.

 So the challenge lies in being the fertile ground for good seeds not for bad. Because being impartial God cannot play favorites so if you make yourself a fertile ground for evil then evil will multiply to hundreds and tens of hundreds.

If we take the example of the holocaust or nearer home the Rwanda genocide, we get to see that seeds of hatred and tribalism were sown by the leaders and these seeds found fertile ground in the population due to ignorance, fear and poverty and we all saw what fruits were like.  Even now it is not possible to know if all the bad fruits are destroyed or if they will exist in perpetuity.

 This is a cautionary tale that should remind us to be more careful with what we feed our brains because if we hear the wrong thing and provide fertile ground for it then it will surely produce fruits and with fruit you get more seeds and process goes on and on.

Test

As Christians luckily we have measure in which we can test the seeds that are right or wrong for as Christ pointed out there is a way that seems good but leads to death and destruction. So let his word be a lamp and a guide unto our feet. For instance recently a popular female socialite was encouraging men to have children out of wedlock as an insurance for the future in case his legal wife and children turn against him. In as much as these incidents are common. This is no valid reason to get entangled in extra marital affairs after all as Christians we know we are protected by a God who neither sleeps nor slumbers. As Jeremiah tells us cursed is the man who puts his trust in man, so the children and wife you think will be your saviour might actually turn out to be your downfall.

Let us keep vigilant in all that we hear may be stony ground when it comes to wrong seeds.

HOT TIP

In the Parable of the Soils, Jesus wanted to reveal to us the human heart in its response to the word of God. In other words, he gives us four different examples of how the human heart will often respond to the word of God.