Tag: sowing

Easy Pickings

~ Sowmya Gali

Luke 8: 5

“The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up.

Jesus, in this parable sets off narrating about a farmer or sower who goes out into the field to sow some seeds. As he picks a few seeds from the bag, some slipped and fell on the side of the path. The farmer didn’t stop to pick them up or sow them in. Instead, he walks on. These seeds are now exposed to the elements: exposed to blazing sun, incessant rain, birds, rodents, insects, etc.  With no firm ground to take root, they tend to die off.

The disciples were perplexed when they heard this Parable. Jesus, knowing their thoughts, begins to explain to them. He compares the seeds that fell on the side of the road, the ones which neither had the right conditions to begin germination nor a stronghold to latch onto, to people who hear the Word of God but become easy pickings to the evil one due to their loose grasp on the Word. “Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. Luke 8: 12

Matthew’s account explains even further what Jesus gave in His explanation. Jesus here elaborates that when such people hear the Word of God, unable to understand it, they become easy prey to the devises of the devil. “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. Matthew 13: 19 They are the ones whose hearts are easily distracted. Any distraction would lead them away from the truth, which is the devil’s agenda in the first place. An underlying fact also remains here: they are the people who don’t take time to dwell a little longer and try to understand the Word. They are looking for easy answers and quick solutions. Wherever they find a quick remedy for their malady, they will pursue that.

Mark’s account gives us a slightly interesting perspective. We can actually visualize this narrative: a person hears the Word of God; he is walking along and the devil is lurking in the corner to distract so that Word doesn’t take root. Thereby, the devil achieved his plan of keeping people away from the truth by showing a shiny object. “These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear; immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.” Mark 4: 15

Whatever the narrative is, the truth remains the same. How many in the world have heard the Gospel but due to lack of resources or someone to explain to them, have reverted to their old ways! And still there are many who heard the Word, but neither took time to stay and ponder a while nor attempted to dig deeper. On the contrary, they chose to stick to easier paths or solutions or more familiar circumstances. Finally, there are those who are easily distracted by a shiny object. Instead of staying the course, they check out quite easily. In these current times of news at our finger tips, in small sound bites, or headlines, we expect the Word of God also to be delivered in brief headlines, fast and precise, GIFs and other media. We just take what we want and toss the rest. Beloved, the Word of God isn’t like that. It is a spring of Living water that never dries out. The longer we choose to stay and dig deeper, the better our satisfaction will be. Nothing will distract us. Nothing will snatch away. Nothing will sway us. It is up to us how and when we allow the Word of God to take root in us.

The Parable Of The Sower

~ Sowmya Gali

INTRODUCTION

The Parable of the Sower had been on my heart for quite some time. I was trying hard to find time to sit down and pen down the thoughts that the Holy Spirit kept flooding into my mind. With the influx of ideas, I was struggling to come up with an organized approach to this powerful parable. Having devised a plan to write an article for each seed and how it was sown, I was gearing up to get started, when out of the blue, the Holy Spirit nudged me to the instance where Jesus calms the storm.

There I was scouring the Gospels for the exact chapter where Jesus calms the storm. Sure enough, I landed in Luke 8, where Jesus takes His disciples out into the lake after a day of preaching and healing. I read the portion of Luke 8: 22 – 25. Trying to put that section in perspective, I started reading a few verses before. They didn’t make sense so started from the beginning of chapter 8. Guess what! It is the Parable of the Sower. Amazed, how the Holy Spirit leads us to His truth, I surrendered and asked Him to teach me what He wants me to learn further more from this familiar passage.

Walk alongside me as we glean amazing truth from this all familiar passage. This Parable has been recorded by Matthew, Mark and Luke. I will be referring portions of this Parable across the three Gospels so we can extract as much ‘juice’ as we can. An interesting observation I made as I read all three accounts of this particular Parable is that all three Gospels record how Jesus explained this particular Parable. A key phrase we should be on the lookout is: he who has eyes, let him see. He who has ears, let him hear. Jesus knew that whoever is keen on learning the truth about God’s Kingdom, with their widened eyes, peeled to what God wants to show, they will see. With their perked-up ears, eager to hear His Word and His truth, they will hear and understand. Only such people are rewarded with the golden nuggets of His truth.

It amazes me that Jesus took time to explain this Parable in detail when His disciples asked Him. Matthew records that Jesus explains them further about the Kingdom of God in various little Parables and at the end ensures that they understood. He asks them, “Have you understood all these things?” and they replied, “yes”.

John’s Gospel doesn’t record this Parable. However, John talks about the True Vine and the branches in John 15. The analogy of the branches being part of the vine to bear fruit and to being subjected to pruning addresses a believer’s growth in faith. Jesus using the analogy of seeds, soil, garden, vine, branches, etc., to explain God’s Gospel reaching people’s hearts, flourishing in their hearts, and they thriving in His Kingdom could have made sense to the people in His day, and definitely, is relevant to us in these our current times. His Word is timeless and true!