The Farmer in all of us!

I was doing my nightly meditation before sleep and thinking about the parable of the sower lately and God showed me something new I had previously overlooked.

A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear."

I have usually always previously taken the position of the seed in the soil and had often wondered whether I was the seed planted in good soil bearing fruit or that in the thorns being choked by "weeds." However, this time I saw that because of Jesus’ life giving Spirit in us, I could be the sower of the seed. Also I found it fascinating that the sower in the parable spread the word everywhere. He hadn't spent years cultivating the perfect soil or learning the ancient lost art of seed planting and irrigation. He was a farmer who simply spread his crop generously around knowing that the nature of the seed will take hold and grow as it was planned and created to function. I think sometimes we imagine that sharing the "good news" has to be more difficult and complex than Jesus had intended it to be. When all we were instructed with is the sharing of His word and gospel with those who can listen and receive it. He has made His word with the power to take root in their heart WITHOUT necessarily needing our clever explanations to be ready before we can share it, because that is the nature of His word. It is both the power and the wisdom of God to those who believe.

Hear then the parable of the sower. "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. "The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. “And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. "And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."

Here's an awesome verse full of promise and hope for both the seed in us and the sower:
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1 12-13

I’m not saying I never have taken the position of the sower before but that I more frequently (I don’t know why) assume the position of the seed.

Fact for the day: Did you know that the George means farmer or "earthworker" and that George just happens to be one of my middle names. Coincidence?... I don't think so!