The Seed And The Sower

I don’t think we can ever fully understand the interest our Sower has in every piece of ground! What will the reaping be? It all depends on 2 factors: we need good seed and good soil. We have no doubt about the seed, which came from heaven, and at a price! In this seed is the potential of eternal life, and the possibility of producing the same fruit that was found in Jesus. But, the soil is something else! In not one of these 3 classes that didn’t produce a harvest, was the seed at fault!! It was the soil!! There’s no soil so poor that it cannot produce something, if it’s separated and yielded, and willing to be worked.

Matthew 13:4 – “Some fell by the wayside.” This ground was too hard – not soft enough for the seed to penetrate. Like those who listen in a careless way. The seed then will just be taken away – no impressions made. Seed by the wayside is just stepped on and trodden under foot. Like despising the word spoken. One man said, for example: “I listen to anything, as long as it’s God’s word, and the things I don’t like, I just let them go over my head!!” Many are like this: “I will decide what I’ll take notice of!” The seed growing by the wayside doesn’t reach maturity. It has no chance of maturing because of the traffic on the road, or the cattle, and the wheels of the carts, breaking it off. There’s no respect for the tender things, like the tenderness that God wants to produce in our hearts. The wayside soil is not separated for a specific purpose. If we want to yield our lives to God, there has to be a measure of separation from this world.

Verses 5-6 – “The stony ground.” The soil looked, and was, good on the surface, but underneath there was a hard layer. It’s like those who listen, being emotionally moved at the time, and maybe have an immediate reaction, but not moved to faith nor obedience. This class had no depth of earth – shallowness! Casual listening is dangerous, without having understanding from God. It’s the cause of unfruitfulness in a life. Jesus didn’t say much about how much time we should spend in prayer, but rather, how to pray! Shallow prayers don’t mean much to God. If we could only realize the power in prayer, we’d be faithful, and never miss praying. It’s not a matter of changing God’s thoughts when we pray, but to give ourselves over to Him again, so that our thoughts can be in line with His. It’s the opportunity to give God the opportunity to change our will to do His will. This is the deep soil. The answer is in finding the presence of the Giver – that’s where our salvation begins! Superficial soil doesn’t require much preparation. The preparation before the meeting – this is deep soil.

Verse 8 – “The good soil.” This is soil that is willing to have the right put in, and the wrong taken out. No soil left to itself will produce good fruit. So, the teaching to give the children what they want isn’t good. Freedom without restraint is destruction. Liberty is not good. It takes nourishment out of the soil. Weeds take the light away from plants, like sapping one’s strength. Then we fall asleep and cannot get through, when we do have desires to seek God. It’s a slow process, until there’s no more love nor peace. The good ground is ground that is willing to be worked over, time and time again. -South African Convention

Matthew 13 – The Seed and the Sower: