Parable of the Sower

Michele DiGuardi shares with us this wonderful devotional…

Jesus often used parables in His earthly ministry and the Parable of the Sower is one of the most popular. It appears in Matthew (13:1-23), Mark (4:1-20), and Luke (8:4-15). A farmer sows seed by scattering it across a field. The seed falls on four different types of ground…the path where birds quickly eat the seed, rocky ground where the seed sprouts quickly but has shallow roots so withers in the sun, among thorns where the plants grow but are choked by the thorns and in good soil where the seed grows well and produces a plentiful harvest. Jesus doesn't always do this with His parables but because His disciples ask Him, He takes time to explain this one. Jesus tells them that the seed is the Word of God. The different types of soil represent the hearts of those who are listening. What is interesting is that Jesus doesn't tell us who the farmer is and we can trust that He is intentional in that. Most often we see Him as the farmer and our own hearts as the soil. We can prepare the soil of our hearts by getting rid of anything that doesn't belong in good soil. The rocks and thorns have to go. We know the best way to do that is by staying close to Jesus through prayer, praise, reading and studying His Word and building community with other believers. Jesus can also use us to be sowers, spreading the Good News and doing the work He has already prepared for us to do, Ephesians 2:10. In the prayer Jesus taught us we are instructed to pray for His kingdom to come and His will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven. If the soil of our hearts is good and we are sowers when we're supposed to be, I think Jesus will use us to become part of the answer to that prayer. 

Make it a Wonderful Wednesday!

God is good…