Farmer-Seed-Soil-Fruit
“‘Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.’”
Today’s Text: Matthew 13:18-30 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
It doesn’t help to over-analyze the parables of Jesus. In this parable of parables, humanity could be the farmer, the seed, the soil, or the fruit.
To understand Jesus’s parables, it helps more to just reflect on the obvious message or messages. The obvious message found here is that Christian joy is found in the abundant yield of fruit. Christian joy is not found in being a single seed.
When our hearts fully embrace the truth of God’s word, we produce more seeds that have the potential to produce more seeds.
But if our hearts rest in man-made paths or if our hearts are cluttered with the need for human approval or if our hearts hunger and thirst for wealth and power and comfort, we will always remain a single seed.
Does that mean that a seed on the path, in rocky soil, or in the thorns is not saved? If we are asking that question, then probably, we are over-evaluating the parable, because our hearts are in the path, rocky soil, or the thorns. In that case, we end upmissing the point of the parable.
The point is to have hearts that fully embrace the truth of God’s word. But our hearts do not naturally embrace God’s word fully, because the truth and the wisdom of God is so counterintuitive.
Having fertile hearts for God’s word requires cultivation. We have to get off the man-made paths. We have to remove the weeds and thorns. We have to till the soil and remove the rocks. But the first thing we must do is to make a conscientious choice to fully embrace God’s word as truth, God’s wisdom as wise.
Then, the word of God will be able to bear abundant fruit in our lives, and our lives will be able to bear abundant fruit in this world.
God desires that we be farmers cultivating the word of God, seed that bears much fruit, soil that richly embraces God’s word, and fruit that blesses the nations.
Father, Your word is life. Let us be a people who wholly embrace the truth of Your word and abide in its wisdom. Make us a people who bear abundant fruit. Make us a people who bear witness to Christ, bless the world around us, and bring glory to Your name. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
