How Do YOU Receive the Gospel/Seed (Parable of the Sower) - Matthew 13 Blog
Spent time reading in Matthew 13 during my Time Alone With God and was clearly drawn to Jesus’s “Parable of the Sower”. Let’s take a look at it: “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.” (Matthew 13:3-8). If you are anything like the disciples, then you see this parable and are confused about its meaning. So, let’s take a deeper look at it to see how this parable applies to us and others that are a part of our lives.
The sower is the individual that is sowing the seed of the gospel into others. The various soils represent the different responses people have as a result of receiving that gospel seed. That being said, here is the explanation that Jesus gives on this parable: “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.” (Matthew 13:19-23). Now that you have a better understanding of this parable, let’s take a look at how we can increase our chances of receiving the seed as good soil.
When someone sows the seed of the gospel, there is always some kind of response to it as we see in the above paragraphs. The seed that falls along the path is basically someone that hears the gospel and chooses to ignore it (shakes it off). That could be because they are enjoying their life of sin and thus don’t want to have to change. If that is you, then I pray that you will recognize the goodness of my loving Savior, Christ Jesus, and that you will rethink your response. This blog is me sowing a seed into you once again, so please don’t let the enemy come and snatch that seed away. Know that Jesus is a gentleman and He will not force you to do anything, but He does want what is best for you and that is His gift of Eternal Life. The Lord is humble, patient, merciful, loving, and forgiving, and He wants to work with you to help you to be the very best YOU that YOU can be. Receive the gospel with good soil and let it take root.
The seed falling on rocky ground is the gospel being received with joy, but unfortunately it still fails to take root like the good soil. When trouble or persecution comes their way, they quickly fall away. Then we have the seed falling among the thorns, which is received and grows, but it gets choked up as well by the thorns (deceitfulness, greed, greater desires of the flesh) and doesn’t persevere and flourish like the seed that falls on good soil. So, now you might be asking yourself how we can receive the seed as good soil. Let’s take a look!
When the seed of the gospel is truly received, an intentional shift happens in your life. That shift is absolutely necessary, otherwise that seed will either get snatched away, or it will die as we learn in the parable. In the three situations that aren’t “good soil” we read things like: “the seed gets snatched away”, “the seed has no root”, and “the seed gets choked”. So, back to taking a look at how we can receive the seed with “good soil”. Being ‘rooted’ in prayer, God’s Word, and in a good bible based church are a great place to start and a great way to care for that gospel seed. We water that seed and help it to grow when we are consistently reading the Word of God. Being rooted in a good bible based church will also water that seed as the Word of God is preached, great worship to the Lord is experienced, and prayer is happening as well. The Lord wants us to spend time in prayer (talking to Him) as much as possible each and every day. It is through prayer that the Lord can actually speak to us too, and thus guide and direct us to help the seed planted in us (now the Holy Spirit) to grow and flourish even more. Other ways to protect that seed and help it to grow are by getting plugged into a bible study, developing your own Christian accountability group, and seeking out good Christian mentors. When you dedicate to doing all of the things that I mentioned in this paragraph, you cannot help but to be changed for the better in Christ. Now, that seed that once could have been eaten by the birds (along the path), is now a seed that grew into a beautiful, massive, fruit bearing tree, in which that very same bird can perch on and find rest.
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