Week of 3/17-3/23: His Life - The Teaching of the Kingdom

Day Three: Luke 8:4-8 As a large crowd was gathering, and people were flocking to Him from every town, He said in a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed. As he was sowing, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the sky ate it up. Other seed fell on the rock; when it sprang up, it withered, since it lacked moisture. Other seed fell among thorns; the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. Still other seed fell on good ground; when it sprang up, it produced a crop: 100 times what was sown.” As He said this, He called out, “Anyone who has ears to hear should listen!”

A FEW YEARS AGO my grandfather had open heart surgery.This serious medical procedure prevented him from being able to plant his large garden that year.Not wanting to miss out on the season’s vegetation, he asked if I would plant the seeds.

Part of the planting process included using a tractor to dig straight lines for the rows of vegetables.Not wanting to disappoint my grandfather, I said, “Sure!” ...even though I had never driven a tractor before in my life!

My grandfather told me that all I had to do was go straight across from one side of the garden to the other.I did that ...or at least I tried to do that.My lines ended up being uneven and crooked.

I went ahead and planted the seeds in the crooked rows.To my surprise the crops came up just fine.Granted, it may have looked like a corn maze in the garden, but at least there was plenty of corn! Through this adventure, I learned something important about farming: the most important thing is the receptivity of the soil, not how straight your lines are!

This incident helped give me a completely new perspective on Jesus’ parable about the sower and the seed.If the soil is receptive the seed will have its best chance at producing a crop.How can we be receptive soil? Jesus said, “Anyone who has ears to hear should listen.” Listening, being receptive, is what allows the seed to find a hospitable environment for it to grow.Jesus isn’t simply talking about hearing the words physically.He is talking about allowing the word, the seed, to penetrate deep down.If our hearts are receptive then we can be assured that our “soil” is ready to receive the seed.It’s much better to have receptive soil and crops growing everywhere than neat straight lines but no growth because our hearts aren’t listening to the Lord.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

▷▷Why do you think receptive soil is more important than straight rows when planting seeds?

▷▷Do you think your heart is receptive to the truthfulness of the gospel? Why or why not?

▷▷What are some ways you can prepare your heart to be receptive to the truthfulness of the gospel?