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Parable of the Sower

by Fergus Davar  
12/07/2009 / Bible Studies

Hi folks, I write again. Yeah this to is from Sundays Word at Church today, which was on the parable of the Sower. Let me quote to you the parable of the Sower from Mark 4:19. Parables are stories of heavenly truths spoken through our day to day earthly events.

Mark 4:1-9
1 Again Jesus began to teach beside Lake Galilee. The crowd that gathered round him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it. The boat was out in the water, and the crowd stood on the shore at the water's edge. 2 He used parables to teach them many things, saying to them:
3 "Listen! Once there was a man who went out to sow corn. 4 As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some of it fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. The seeds soon sprouted, because the soil wasn't deep. 6 Then, when the sun came up, it burnt the young plants; and because the roots had not grown deep enough, the plants soon dried up. 7 Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up and choked the plants, and they didn't produce any corn. 8 But some seeds fell in good soil, and the plants sprouted, grew, and produced corn: some had thirty grains, others sixty, and others a hundred."
9 And Jesus concluded, "Listen, then, if you have ears!"

Now you may ask, why did Jesus speak in parables? Why did he not tell us plainly? Well, let me put the question back to you if you or I were to go into a different country, which was very different from your own in culture, food, people & language. If this was so, then if you were teach those people & explain to them how things work where you come from then you would teach them giving them examples of things that happen in their own country. You cannot tell them plainly of things in your own country because, they will try to make sense of it by relating to their own world & they would need your help with that. So let's see what Jesus say's about why he talks in parables.

Luke 8:9-10
9 His disciples asked Jesus what this parable meant, 10 and he answered, "The knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of God has been given to you, but to the rest it comes by means of parables, so that they may look but not see, and listen but not understand.

I know this goes against what I tried to explain. The truth is people are chosen to be saved (Tit 1:2). Salvation is by grace (Ephesians 2:1-8) not because of your works but God wants all to be saved (Act 13:47) but that will not happen (Matthew 25:31-46). So the basic reality about Salvation depends on your attitude toward Jesus & His Word. If His Word touches the chords of your heart then Salvation is knocking on your door. Will you accept Jesus as your Lord & Savior? If you do then your decision was not your own but God working and understanding within you. He chose you as His own from the beginning of time (2 Timothy 1:9). That is the power of my eternal God, who exist as One in the Father Son and Spirit. If you haven't as yet accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior then you need to ask God to get you to know Him. It would be advisable that you visit a Church that is Biblically sound, their teachings and prayers will help you to get to know the God that truly exist as God & not a god that has been taught convincingly to deceive man. Accepting Jesus as Lord & Saviour is a critical issue, because it is written that Sodom and Gomorrah will be shown more mercy than to those who reject Jesus (Matthew 10:15). Sodom & Gomorrah are the most sinful cities in Biblical history (Genesis 18:20).

Now coming to the meaning of the parable of the Sower, allow me to quote.

Mark 4:13-20
13 Then Jesus asked them, "Don't you understand this parable? How, then, will you ever understand any parable? 14 The sower sows God's message. 15 Some people are like the seeds that fall along the path; as soon as they hear the message, Satan comes and takes it away. 16 Other people are like the seeds that fall on rocky ground. As soon as they hear the message, they receive it gladly. 17 But it does not sink deep into them, and they don't last long. So when trouble or persecution comes because of the message, they give up at once. 18 Other people are like the seeds sown among the thorn bushes. These are the ones who hear the message, 19 but the worries about this life, the love for riches, and all other kinds of desires crowd in and choke the message, and they don't bear fruit. 20 But other people are like the seeds sown in good soil. They hear the message, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred."

Verse 13, shows you how basic and important this parable is. It is like the A B C of written English. The parable of the Sower explains the attitude of different people, when the Gospel is preached to them. The Gospel can make you into a world changer but that all depends on how well you accept the Word (seed) of God.

The first type (verse 15) of people are those, where the seeds fall on the path, that is the people hear the Word but it all falls on deaf ears. Something like when you ignore what someone says, giving him the cold shoulder treatment.

The second type (verse 16-17), is the seed falling on rocky ground. The reason the seed does not go deep in the soil is because there is very little soil on that rocky ground (Mark 4:5). It is like a person who finds himself delighted with the Jesus' Word & becomes very enthusiastic but gives Jesus just a little place (little soil) in his life, not all of his life. When the heat is turned on (Sun comes up) him for his new found faith, he crumbles. The heat could be persecution of any kind, however Jesus asks us to remain faithful to Him even to the point of death because what the enemy can do is only temporary and only to the body (Luke 12:4). Jesus is our Care Taker & Shepherd, he heals all wounds. If you loose your life for Jesus' sake then you will loose it only for it to be given back to you (Matthew 10:39) & you will never die again, with a rich reward (Matthew 19:29) that will never spoil (Luke 12:33). The reason the young plant dries when the sun comes up is because there is very little soil for the plant to take root. The fault is not of the seed nor of the Sower, it is purely by grace that that rocky ground received the seed (Word of God). The seed is not able to germinate because the soil is not favourable. You know when guest come into my house, my mum is very particular about how the house should look. So she tidies the house to get it ready for them to visit and this should be the same with us. We may be any of the unfavourable types of soil mentioned above but when Jesus comes into our lives, it becomes high time to pray to God asking him to instill in us the Spirit to tidy up, so that our bodies may become favourable & bear fruit for Him.

The third type (verse 18-19), are the seed that fall among thorn bushes. The three types of thorns that choke our growth in God are

1. The worries of life: You know the unique thing about worry, is that it comes very naturally to us. We don't go to any school to learn to worry. You know sometimes, someone in your family may come home really late and the worst thoughts start plaguing us. Thoughts that we never even thought of, when we were angry with that person. Let's see what Jesus says about the worries of life.

Luke 12:22-25
22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, "And so I tell you not to worry about the food you need to stay alive or about the clothes you need for your body. 23 Life is much more important than food, and the body much more important than clothes. 24 Look at the crows: they don't sow seeds or gather a harvest; they don't have storerooms or barns; God feeds them! You are worth so much more than birds! 25 Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it?

Note: This does not mean that you have to start living a life of a hermit. What it means is that you start recognizing God as your master in whatever it is that you do. Honor Jesus in whatever role of life you are in. You need to start talking & listening to God, to know what are His plans for you.

2. The love for riches: I don't have to point out people, who become morally blind just to earn money. To some people money is their god because in their narrow outlook to life, they feel money alone will sustain them. This was also the case when Jesus came. The money that is mentioned in the original Greek New Testament, the word for money was Mammon (god of wealth) (Matthew 6:24). Jesus said that man cannot serve two masters. He will either serve one and despise the other or vise-versa (Luke 16:13).

Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, "I will never leave you; I will never abandon you."

This does not mean that if you serve God, you will not have money. In fact it is written that all that you need and more will be given to you when you seek the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33).

3. Other desires: There are also these other desires within us that lead us away from God, desires such as over consumption of alcohol, drug abuse, sexual desires, etc. I am sure that God is the last person you are thinking of when you are involved right there and right then in these temptation.

The last type of soil, is the good soil. O how we all would like to be here. Being good is the work of the Spirit in you because soil cannot be good on its own, it needs to cared for, watered, manured, loosened to plant the seed. All this takes work, the soil is not capable to do it by itself. It is the work of God in a persons life that makes him good, however all good people do not believe in Jesus & bear fruit for Him. Just like all good soil does not bear useful fruit, even after it has been cared for. Luke 8:15, shows the exact characteristics of good soil.

Luke 8:15
15 The seeds that fell in good soil stand for those who hear the message and retain it in a good and obedient heart, and they persist until they bear fruit.

It is important to note that our hearts may be like the good soil in certain areas of our lives and unfavourable in other areas. So we need to discern which areas we need to work on & pray to the Spirit asking Him to work within us & change us into the good soil that bears fruit in plenty for the Kingdom of God.

I close this post with this statement, just as God wants all to be saved, he wants all to bear fruit & always be on guard against those who try to lead you away from you accepting Jesus as your God and Savior.

Matthew 7:15
"Be on your guard against false prophets; they come to you looking like sheep on the outside, but on the inside they are really like wild wolves.

By Fergus Davar (Saved by HIS grace), just a pen in His Hand.

Psalms 144:1
Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
who trains my hands for war,
and my fingers for battle;

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