The Parable of the SowerEdit Blog

Matthew 13: That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “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. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears,and they have closed their eyes.Otherwise they might see with their eyes,hear with their ears,understand with their heartsand turn, and I would heal them.’

But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 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.”

His disciples asked him why he teaches in parables. But he said, "for you; you already have the privilege to understand the word that comes from the living God".

It is given to you as a privilege free of charge so that you may share it to your brothers and sister without price. But the eyes of their heart is blinded by the devil. Their ears are completely shut off so that they could not realize that I am their healer and they cannot understand simply what I am going to tell them.

As little children, I will tell them with little story’s and parable so they will never forget my teachings. This is the wisdom of the Lord that many have used it to teach younger generation. The parable of the sower is one of this kind.

As Christian we may hear the word of God not once or twice but many times previously. We have read the word of God delightfully. We will see what are the steps we need to take to be fruitful to the Lord as Jesus mentioned it here.

The VCD techniques to bring forth 100 fold fruitfulness

1. Vigilant/wise

2. Crucify

3. Deep root

The first step is to be vigilant and wise for the things of the Lord especially to his word

Mathew 13:4: As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up...

... 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. 

Since there is no wisdom and understanding and the fear of the Lord, the word that spoke to them doesn't make any sense to them. It has no value compared to other staff in the world. When they go about their life, everything will be all forgotten. The devil is expert in taking what God has planted.

He is good to deceive with his notorious lies and to lead to destruction and ultimately to destroy. This applies to those who are not yet believed in the Lord and those who have been saved but reluctantly fall out of his grace by doing all manner of things

Wisdom and understanding comes from the Lord.

James 1:5: If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

The word of God is not something we listen to it for fun and forget about it. It needs mediation and deep understanding. There is one thing that can effectively change christians in to the likeness of God through Jesus and that is to be planted in the word of God with diligence. 

The second step is to have deep root in Christ through the word of God and the Holy Ghost. 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. 

This kind of people are basically are those Christians who believe in Jesus and take a great delight in hearing the word of God. They are no the ones who just simply forgets what the Lord said. Like St. Peter was tested and failed first, second and third time, these type of Christians do not build their faith on the foundation of pure love and relationship with Christ.

They might be passionate to follow Christ when there is abundance of food and blessings in their homes. They are passionate to serve him when things look great. But when persecution and hard times knocks at the door, they will simply lose it. They would not sacrifice themselves for the sake of the gospel!

Matthew 7:24-27:  “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and put them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

They have a conditional God that they will only serve him when things are great and run away when things go wrong

Habakkuk 3:17: Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls,  Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.…

Daniel 3:18: But even if he does not, we want you to know, your majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

But this is simply put than done. When trouble and tribulation kicked in we all start shaking and lose our grip. There is nothing wrong with that unless we give up our faith. We have to understand that good times and bad times are all part of our lives

We cannot appreciate the good times of our lives unless we really understand what it looks like to be alone and with no help at all.

When the Lord takes us through difficult situation of our lives, it means he has an important lesson to teach us. The Psalmist said that the Lord took him through hard times to teach him a good lesson

Peter was relying in self-confidence rather than putting his trust on the Lord. Having deep root in the word of God and diligently seeking the face of God help us skip the bad days that the devil has plan to destroy us.

The last but not lease for us to bring hundred fold fruitfulness to the Lord is to crucify every selfish desire and the deceitfulness of the world with the cross. This is not about persecution, tribulation and hard times

This is where willfully engage in a dangerous way of life style that can potentially consumes our spiritual growth towards our God through Christ Jesus.

Here things become apparently so important for us that we give away our precious time, energy and resources to potentially harmful habits to gain fame and prosperity without the will of God for us.

The world knows how to get the best of us taking away the special part of our lives that was supposed to be sacrificed for the Lord.

In fact it has specialized in putting us in to slavery of hard work consuming all of our talents and productive time that we can use to bring glory for the Lord through preaching the gospel and worshiping him in the midst of his congregation

Here I am not trying to degrade the value of hard work to offer our best in the areas where the Lord has placed us. I want to be sure that the Lord wants you to use your talents and be fruitful wherever he has placed you. The Lord put you there for a reason and he wants to make you available for the good work he wants to do in people’s lives.

But I don’t want you to go all the way through and forget all about your spiritual obligation that is to honor him at all times with all sacrifices. That you may never compromise when it comes to worshiping him among your brothers and sisters and preaching the gospel for all nations and generations to come

When we practice these things, we will yield hundred and we would be able to accomplish his will in our lives.

May God bless you abundantly for reading this blog..