A Pause to Ponder God's Word
"Sow The Seed"

In Matthew 13 we are told that the crowd that had gathered around Jesus was so great that he got into a boat and sat in it while he taught the people. Jesus knew that if this large crowd was to hear Him, His voice would have to be amplified. Therefore, He used a powerful natural amplifier so that all could hear His message. The Creator used His creation. By getting into the boat and pushing off shore, even just a short distance, the water would amplify His voice and all would be able to hear. While sitting there in the boat Jesus told this great crowd a story. A farmer went out to sow some seed and the seed feel on all types of soil. In the story Jesus described the types of soil that the seed feel upon and that the soil's type and receptiveness dictated the results.

Modern ears struggle with this message. We struggle not because we don't understand the story. We know that in Jesus' time farmers did not have the advanced technology and equipment we have. Therefore, we have no problem with the story itself. The image of the man with the bag filled with seed draped over his shoulder, one hand holding the bag open and the other drawing out a handful of seed throwing it into the air is a powerful image. No our struggle isn't with the story.

The parable of the sower, as it is commonly referred to, is twofold in its application. In this parable each of the characters and items represent something. One interpretation of this parable identifies the sower as Jesus, the seed as the gospel (the message of the Kingdom), and the soil as the hearer (us). The hearer is confronted with the question; is what kind of soil am I? Another way to understand this message is to see the gospel as the seed (the Word of God in Christ), the hearers as the soil, and the disciples of Christ as the sowers.

The first application brings conviction and, prayerfully, the pleading prayer that God would make us receptive soil. The latter application calls us, as Christ's disciples, to be sowers of the seed. Here is where we struggle. We struggle with both responsibility placed upon us and with the method that Jesus tells us to use. We don't want to be sowers. We'd rather be soil. Let the seed fall on us, but don't ask us to get involved. But, if the seed takes root in us, we are compelled to be involved. The message is a call to service, as well as to salvation.

We also struggle with the method, because know better ways to plant the seed of the gospel than just throwing it into the wind. We know how to soil analyze the soil and we have technical ways in sowing seed for the best effectiveness. Sowing seed is frivolous and wasteful. We now how to choose the most receptive soil and how best to plant the seed in it. Surely Jesus didn't really mean for us to plant this way today now that we know better.

Beloved, Jesus didn't tell us to be soil analyzers or planting technicians. He told us to sow the seed. He gives the seed and when it is sown in His Name it is never wasted. The sower is not to be concerned about the soil, only about the sowing the seed. Therefore, we must tell, sing, and live the message. We must sow the seed. And as we sow, we pray to the Lord of the harvest for laborers to harvest, for it will be great beyond our greatest dreams.

Keep Close To Jesus
Pastor Gerry


A Pause To Ponder God's Word is written and distributed by Gerald Whetstone, Ordained Elder and teacher in the Church of the Nazarene. These devotionals may be transmitted, duplicated, used in part or in entirety without permission for nonprofit purposes only. Responses welcome. To Subscribe Click Here.
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