“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seeds fell among the thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still, other seeds fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop a hundred more times than was sown.” (Luke 8 4:8)
Christians could be likened to farmers who scatter seeds. When we start spreading, i.e., sharing the Gospel, we do not know what type of soil we are sowing into. I found this footnote in my NIV Life Application Bible to be very helpful:
Why would a farmer allow the precious seed to land on the path, rocks, or among thorns? It is not an irresponsible farmer scattering seeds at random. He is using an acceptable method of hand-seeding a large field—tossing it by handfuls as he walks through the area. His goal is to get as much seed as possible to take root in good soil, but there is the inevitable waste as some fall or is blown into less productive areas. That some of the seeds produced no crop was not the fault of the faithful farmer. The yield depended on the condition of the soil where the seed fell. Our responsibility is to spread the seed (God’s message), but we should not give up when some of our efforts fail. Remember, not every seed falls on good soil.
When we share the gospel message, we do not know what type of soil it is landing on. The ground of a person’s life may be malnourished, and discipleship is much needed to help them establish a healthy root system to become good soil. A damaged root system brings unhealthy fruit, which is why Jesus and His healing are so important to help the roots become healthy and learn to grow in good soil. I started to address my life issues soon after becoming a Christian, and I discovered that many of my emotions resulted from my damaged roots. Root damage produces unhealthy fruit such as anger, bitterness, resentment, jealousy, and many other unhealed emotions.
Some people don’t require much watering for their roots to grow strong and deep, and as they receive nourishment, they start to produce fruit such as love, joy, peace, patience, and self-control, i.e., the fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22–23. But others with damaged root systems need a lot of watering and fertilising to get their root systems to thrive. Everyone’s story is unique, and each person will come to Jesus with different needs.
If we are faithful in sowing, be constant in prayer and ask God to give us wisdom when sharing the gospel message. Ask Him to show you what needs to happen so those who receive His message can strengthen their root system to be anchored in God and receive His grace and healing in their lives. I found this clip by Max Lucado very useful to remind me of what the fruit of the Spirit is to look like in my life https://youtu.be/xXM8aGptMsk enjoy!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, may the seeds of your word sown into the hearts and lives of our loved ones fall into rich soil so they will grow and flourish. Fertilise the soil of our hearts and lives so that we become good soil, produce good fruit, and see it produced in the lives of others. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Until next time, Leisa
6 Comments
Submit a Comment
section]
Amen! May my own roots remain firm in Christ, and may I be faithful in spreading the seeds.
Visiting (late!) from FMF#28
Leisa, this is such a good reminder of what we are responsible for and what we’re not. And how lovely is it when we see people growing and getting their roots established. That’s the hard bit – the discipleship. Sowing the seed seems to me to be the easiest part of it all.
What a gorgeous message of faith.
Roots and fruits, no ifs ands buts
to grow the Gospel Tree,
but sometimes seeding comes from nuts
remarkably like me
who break into dance and song
like David ‘fore the Lord,
except my timing’s often wrong
and someone grabs a board
to whack said clown upside the head
for lack of a pious mien,
saying that I should instead
lend gravitas unto the scene
that generations through the years
used to bore the world to tears.
Love the comment from your Life Application Bible.
Thanks for sharing.
For so long I thought I was doing everything wrong when it came to sowing God’s seeds because I never saw results, but now thankfully I understand that I’m not responsible for any part of the growth. Loved reading your wisdom in just that! To be faithful sowers is our “job”! Thank you Leisa!