Monday, July 28, 2014

The Parable of the Sower

Luke 8: 4-15
And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.”When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?”
10 And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the restit is given in parables, that
‘Seeing they may not see,
And hearing they may not understand.’
11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 Now the ones thatfell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.

I have always read this parable and understood it as four different kinds of people. While reading through it recently, I understood it as four very distinct, and different phases, of the same persons life, mainly mine.

In the beginning I was the soil on the wayside, not really caring to hear God's Word, as I couldn't see what was in it for me, besides I was only interested in having a good time.

I was also the stony ground when I did finally take the time to listen, but not having conviction in my faith allowed it to fall away.

I then was the seed among the thorns. I didn't stand up to the weeds, and the cares of the world silenced the Word. The sad part of this phase of life is, it is the final phase of the soil being matured, and is the most difficult phase to be in as the world tries to overpower the born again believer. 

Thankfully God never left me through all those times in my life and worked the soil of my heart to make me the man of God I am today. I am still working on full production to reach the hundredfold, but at least now I am producing.

When you think of the parable this way, it lets you know, that even though you might be in any of the first phases, God is still there working on your heart.

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