And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying,
Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
And when he sowed,
some seeds fell by the way side,
and the fowls came and devoured them up:
Some fell upon stony places,
where they had not much earth:
and forthwith they sprung up,
because they had no deepness of earth:
And when the sun was up, they were scorched;
and because they had no root, they withered away.
And some fell among thorns;
and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
But other fell into good ground,
and brought forth fruit,
some an hundredfold,
some sixtyfold,
some thirtyfold.
Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Matthew 13:3-9
My own parable today
Since Jesus spoke in parables,
I thought I’d give it a try
So if we think of hearts as gardens
and the word of God as seed
And we know that the parable of the seed and the sower
describes the level of absorption for the seed in a human’s heart
We can spread the seed as we are directed by the Lord
But is there another way we can help that seed take root?
He says one plants, another waters,
but God gives the increase
Perhaps while we till the soil,
we can help spread some top soil
Top soil doesn’t look like much
It looks like plain dirt
But it is not just dirt
Top soil is rich with nutrients
It has been given time to mature,
all the decomposition of time
which could be considered
wisdom and knowledge and the fear of the Lord
All the lessons we have learned
has created a fertile ground where growth will flourish
As it seems the parable is describing
the places that hearts are already in when the word comes
How does one’s heart get to the position
where the seed will take root and flourish?
If we’re thinking of an unsaved persons heart as soil,
we must not neglect caring for our own hearts
Tilling the soil, digging up the weeds
adding more top soil to the depleted soil
Nourishing our gardens so that they glorify the Lord
Getting rid of the old, dry, dead dross
planting new seeds of the word
cherishing and watering and caring for our gardens
as we have a responsibility to care for our own hearts
Though we can’t see hearts unless the Lord shows us,
how can we help prepare the soil of another’s heart
to receive the word?
I can think of a few ideas:
Prayer
Fasting
Love
Kindness
Demonstration of His word
Testimony as in how we came to Christ
or testimonies as in things that He has done for us
or answered prayer
Sharing with others our experiences in Christ
can be a form of spreading Top Soil,
helping them to grow
Sometimes it is easy to see how people respond
Some people mock
It’s hard to deal with mockers
Not sure mockers are able to hear or gain any insight
when they are in their mocking phase
And may need more prayer before they can hear
they also may not ever listen
Proverbs refers to them as fools often
Some people are slightly interested
if you speak just the right word at just the right time
All acts for the Lord are best with sensitivity to the Holy Spirit
I’ve seen this accomplished with prayer
I will pray for an open door,
an opportunity and that He gives me the right words
and a sprinkle of extra love in my heart
Spreading topsoil and helping to prepare those hearts
the Lord may allow you to come in contact with
to speak the word in season and out
to help others to grow and absorb the seed of the Word
and to be open to be a vessel of His Holy Spirit
which is such an incredible honor
Scriptural References:
So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 1 Corinthians 3:7
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 2 Timothy 4:2