Walking With Christ

Matthew 13:3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow.

The Parable of the Sower is one of my favorite parables in the Bible. While the main point of the parable is often the focus, with Jesus explaining its meaning, there are parts of the parable that seem to be just setup information and are often overlooked.

Perhaps because this isn’t the primary point of the parable, the sower tends to be overlooked, but this parable reveals quite a bit about the sower. The sower had a limited amount of seed. Logically, only the seeds that sprout and produce fruit are useful. Therefore, a sower who wants the greatest crop yield will do everything in his power to ensure that each seed is planted in the best possible location. This logically means avoiding areas where the seed is not likely to sprout—the pathway, the rocky soil, and the thorny soil would all be skipped.

Think about that in terms of the actual purpose of the parable. The human heart doesn’t want to waste a single seed and thus misses many opportunities because of fear and doubt. Imagine the lost opportunities for the body of Christ if we only spoke to those we knew for certain would produce fruit for the kingdom.

If I am the sower in this parable, then these emails are the seeds. I pour a lot into most of these messages, knowing that many people don’t read them all. This is okay. It doesn’t offend me. Why? It doesn’t offend me because, like the sower in the parable, I trust that the right person will read the message meant for them at the right time. Each time I write a message, there is a sense of urgency with each word. It often feels like there is something specific hidden in the words that will be a seed for someone. That seed may not be meant for today. It might take years to sprout. I just know that it will sprout when He wills it to.

Seeds want to sprout. That is their very nature and purpose. If they are not sown, they are even less likely to produce fruit than those seeds cast on the pathway, rocky, or thorny soil.