“So… There once was the farmer, and he had some seeds…”
We all know the story that Jesus told about the farmer sowing seeds in the road, on the gravel, in the weeds and then on the good ground.
Now, personally I thought this is probably the worst farmer in the world, or maybe he had some nervous ticks? Throwing seed all over the place? Maybe he was a bit blind and didn’t realise he wasn’t in his field? Either way… someone needed to help this farmer!
Now, I am not a farmer, but I have watched a show or two on tv, and I am pretty sure what Jesus described in Mark 4 is not how farmers work.
His disciples, however, waited for everyone to leave and then asked Jesus about the parable. (because… I am sure, even as fishermen, they also knew that farmers are a bit more accurate)
So Jesus explained.
“… Let me explain: The farmer sows the Word as seed…”
1. Seed falls on hard hearts, and Satan snatches it away before it can have any effect
2. Seed falls on gravel. It sprouts, but as soon as the world’s trouble shows up, it wilts and dies in the scorching sun.
3. Seed falls between the weeds. The greed for instant wealth and power chokes out the good seed.
but then…
4. Some fall on good ground, it settles, grows, and produces seed upon seed and fruit upon fruit, yielding a great harvest!
But what if this parable doesn’t describe four groups of people, but just one follower of Christ?
It actually makes a lot more sense then.
Where is my heart Today, as the Word of God comes my way?
Am I stuck in rocks? Focussed on the troubles pressing up against me?
Or is my heart so hard with anger and hatred that God’s Voice just bounces off?
Am I pursuing wealth and status so diligently that it chokes out the seeds that God is planting in me?
Or…
Is my heart open and ready, prepared, regardless of what is happening around me to receive and enfold and make my own, that which God is teaching me today?
If I am ready, a harvest will come, because there is nothing wrong with the seed, the seed is ALWAYS GOOD but if my heart is not ready to accept the seeds planted today, nothing will come from it, and to push the metaphor… it also means we will probably have to wait until the next planting season.
“Let me explain: The farmer sows the message of the kingdom. What falls on the beaten path represents those who hear the message, but immediately Satan appears and snatches it from their hearts. And what is sown on gravel represents those who hear the message and receive it joyfully, but because their hearts fail to sink a deep root, they don’t endure for long. For when trouble or persecution comes on account of the message, they immediately wilt and fall away. And what is sown among thorns represents those who hear the message, but they allow the cares of this life and the seduction of wealth and the desires for other things to crowd out and choke the message so that it produces nothing.”
“But what is sown on good soil represents those who open their hearts to receive the message and their lives bear good fruit—some yield a harvest of thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold!”
(Mark 4:14-20)
