In Luke 8:4-15, Jesus gives the parable of the farmer that is sowing seeds. Many are familiar with the story but i feel like it is necessary to tell the story anyway and also tell you how i see it which i feel is how God allowed me to see it. A farmer is scattering seeds in a field as he walks. Each seed can fall in one of 4 places. Some fall on a path, some fall among rocks, some in weeds and thorns, and some fall on fertile soil. As you can already tell only one of these places sound even remotely good for a new plant. Jesus explains how each of the situations turned out.
Since Jesus mostly spoke in parables some people did not understand, so the disciples asked him what he meant by this story. Jesus first told them he spoke in parables so that some may understand and that some cannot. Through people's faith they are aloud to understand. This all goes back to the faith discussed in pervious posts. In other words, how can you understand the word of God if you do not have faith in God? (hope that makes things clearer) Jesus then says the the seed is the word of God.
The seeds that fell by the road get walked on my humans as well as animals, get eaten by birds, and since the ground is hard and worn, the seeds never go down into the soil to allow roots to catch. Jesus explains this by saying that the seeds that fall here are the one who have heard the word of God, but Satan comes and prevents their hearts from believing causing them to not be saved. Think about it like this. A seed falls on the path. The seed gets walked on by a mule or cow or ox and gets cracked and dries out. The seed is no longer good and will have to be replanted. Also if a bird eats the seed it is no longer there and will also have to be replanted. Satan is the one who walks on the seed and is the bird that eats it: through temptation, ignorance, hard times, or things such as those.
The seeds that fall among the rocks will begin to grow but will die due to lack of moisture. Jesus explains this by saying that this circumstance represents those who hear the word and receive it, but because of temptation fall away. They have no roots because the rocky soil prevents roots from going very deep and traps the moisture away from the seed. In my words--If you have never been out in the wilderness you won't understand thins, but in my mind i see it a little like this. If you pick up a rock on a hot day, you will find there is moisture underneath it. Even in the desert there will be at least a small amount of moisture under a rock. Since Jesus is from the Middle East, you can assume that the moisture from a rock would prevent a plant in a dry area from getting moisture. Temptation that comes from friends and the world is the rocks. They can easily prevent someone growing in the Lord as the should. The rocks provide a cool place for the moisture to easily reside so that the seed won't reach its full potential. The seed here is still God's word but the moisture can be related to God's help. The rock, which is Satan, prevents the help of God from reaching the seed that has already been planted inside of you. (i know as of right now its a little hazy where i am going with this but at the end it will all tie together, i hope)
Some of the seeds fell among weeds and thorns that choked the planted out before it reached its full potential. Jesus' explains it this way: these are the ones who hear the message but fall back into the world before they have a chance to grow. The thorns and weeds here are the ones people surround themselves with.. The seeds get to the ground, even possibly decent ground to grow in, but because the plants that are around the seeds are so bad, the plant never even have a chance. The people you surround yourself with can make or break your Christian walk. The word of God can be planted in decent soil but if other things are in that same soil then more than likely the plant is not going to make it. They suck up all of the moisture from the younger plant and cause it to wither and die, wasting the seed. Your friends and family can be your downfall whether you want to admit it or not. It takes a very strong person to surround themselves with ways of the world and still be faithful to God.
The last scenario is about the seeds that fall onto good soil. These seeds grew and produced crops 100 times as great as the original seed. Even though the explanation is self explanatory, Jesus explains it just to make sure everyone can understand this: these seeds represent good hearted people who receive the word of God, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest. My words may seem even more redundant than that, but because i am me, i am going to put my two-cents in. The word that falls into a good heart that is in a good place with good surroundings will prosper and make multiply. If you receive the word and keep it in your heart and surround yourself with good people you can make God's kingdom grow.
This is where i make my attempt to pull it all in together. The seed is God's word in all situations. The location of the soil is the hearer of the word in all situations. In order for the word of God to be useful in your life you have to make your soil the good, fertile soil. you must not let the word of God to be planted and be wasted. It is up to you, the soil, to change the soil. (if that makes sense to you, hopefully it does) Satan is the one who gets everything going against the seed. Satan wants nothing more than for the seed to be planted and die and never come back. The traffic on the road, rocks, and thorns all separate you from God. These things all keep what is necessary for growth from getting to the seed. God's help is what is necessary for the seed to grow. He helps you let his word(aka Him) grow in you. without any hindrances the word can grow into the plant that should be your life. Though by now we know that no one is perfect and we all let our seeds get stepped on, or get choked out and wither. God is always there to keep us in his word. Keeping his seed growing.
One last thing before i close. Do you remember in 1st grade when your class put a few seeds in a moist paper towel in a zip-lock bag and put it in your window? You notice that after a few days, given the circumstances, the shell of the seed begins to split open. Everyday you run in the classroom and run to the window to find your bag to see what has happened since you last saw it. You start to notice that the shell of the seed has almost all fallen off. The roots have started to grow downward and the plant itself has began growing upward. Due to the pure living conditions for this new plant the plant can grow without any concern of being choked out. Eventually the plant is separate from the shell of the seed. Not to say that the seed(God) is not there anymore, but because of the "soil" the seed was planted in the seed transformed into a full plant. The full plant is now visible and able to produce fruit. (which gives me an idea for a post in the next few days.) The fruit is the seeds that reproduce the plant and make the 100s more Jesus talked about. The plant you grow in your heart produces fruit you are allowing God to plant seeds in other's lives. When the plant in the bag is mature enough it can be placed out into the real world where living conditions are not always perfect. If the plant is mature enough it can live among the thorns and rocks without fear of withering. The same goes for the living word inside of you. If you let the roots from Gods seed deep enough into your soil, you can be anywhere and be able to stand your ground against thorns, weeds, and rocks.
I really hope that I have not lost you anywhere in this post. If i have in this, or any post for that matter, please contact me so we can talk. the last thing i want is confusion.
Okay, so it has been about a week since i posted last. This week has been a busy one for some reason. Not that much to do but a lot going on. I am sure you all have had weeks like this one. I wanted to post this yesterday but i got caught up in setting up for a camping ministry that my friends and I have been trying to put together. A few friends and I have a passion for two things. Being outside and spreading the word of God. Most of us are a rather rough looking group of guys, most of the time we are dirty due to what we have been doing out on the farm where we camp; no matter what we look like we all try to live for the Lord everyday. A local farmer has been gracious enough to let us camp in the field he keeps his cows in. Anyway, we had our first real campout last night. We invited some people, though not the turnout we expected, and cooked a big pot of chili. A few people made it out there and we had a really awesome time. A friend of mine did the bible study later on that evening and talked about keeping the faith even in times of trials. His message was really great and may even be brought up in a future post if i can remember it all. I will keep you all updated on this ministry and how things go as time goes on. Until next time, May the roots of God be deep within your heart. thanks for reading!
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