“Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthews 13:8, NIV) The Parable of the Sower is one of the most popular parables of our Lord. It is quite understandable why the seeds sown in the first three kinds of ground couldn’t be fruitful. Some seeds fell along the path and were eaten away by the birds. Some other seeds fell on rocky soil and sprang up quickly but couldn’t stand the heat of the sun and withered away because they were not deep rooted. Some other seeds fell among the thorny bushes and were suppressed by the thorns and finally couldn’t produce any crop. All these three categories are easily understandable. The fourth category mentioned here is the most intriguing situation. The fourth category of seeds fell on the good soil and all of them produced good crop. The mysterious fact here is that even those seeds that fell on the good ground produced different degrees of crop. Certain seeds produced thirty times crop, some other seeds produced sixty times and some other seeds produced hundred times crop. Why this difference? What made these seeds produce hundred times crop? In the original text we find that these are three different persons producing three different degrees of crop. All three persons had their hearts prepared as a good soil. Everyone’s heart was good. None of the three persons had thorny bushes in their hearts. None of them had a heart like a rocky soil. Everyone’s heart was equally good in understanding the Word of God. Then, what caused the difference in the crop. Luke gives us the reason for this – “But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop” (Luke 8:15, NIV). The noble and good heart is the heart that is willing to change opinions, give up the old beliefs and ideology and adopt new system of thinking and form new opinions. Whenever we hear the anointed message of God we must be willing to discard every thought and opinion in our mind that is not in harmony with God’s Message. When we begin to think and act in harmony with God’s mind we will have to face opposition and envy of the worldly people. Then we must be patient and steadfast. This is where perseverance is needed. Only those who are willing change their thought line and are willing to suffer in order to do God’s will can bear much fruit for the Lord. This willingness and perseverance is not constant in everyone’s heart. It varies with each person and the final crop of the seed in our hearts is directly proportionate to our level of obedience and perseverance.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 12:23:44 +0000
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