Bad growing areas

If you would like to read the first part of the series, you can go to Thrown seed.

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 talks about The Parable of the Sower and the different areas of where the seeds fell, and then an explanation of what those different areas are in personal terms.  Three of the areas the seeds fell on were not good soil, but destructible soil that made the seeds wither, die, or not grow at all.  The seed, is the gospel of Jesus Christ; and the different soils are the different ways people interpret the gospel and “receive it”.

                         Here is what Jesus said in Matthew 13:18-23″18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 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 what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

So many times we feel the need to look down on Christianity as a whole, or specific people that have tried to share the great news of who Christ is and what a person’s life could be with Christ in charge. When looking at statistics of who accepted Christ or who even listened, some can get frustrated as to how the application of the “Product” or the gospel was presented and try to find different ways of going about it.  It is good too keep up to date with the different trends of each culture that we are apart of, but to suggest that we can do anything differently is a complete dishonoring of our great God. 

How should we look at this passage then? We should look at it through God’s eyes and His power.  It’s not what we can do better or how we can do better, because all of that is in God’s hands. He made the soil and everything else around it, and He is the one that knows who will accept and who won’t.  What we should be doing is looking at the farmer spreading the seed and follow in the same way.  We should be spreading the seed every where and not being picky on who we talk with and who we pass by each day. 

Matthew 28:18-19a “And Jesus Came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”; Mark 16:15 “And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”

Thrown seed

Most people might know the parable of the seeds and the sower.  It was probably said to you in Sunday School or something like that, and it was all nice and cutesy like.  I am going to look at this paragraph in two different ways, and hopefully will bring a little insight into some-one’s life.  one will be about the differences between the four and specifically one grouping, and the other will talk about how we can use that parable in our lives today. In Matthew 13, as well as Mark 4 and Luke 8, there is an interesting parable told by Jesus about why some people’s lives are wasted and unreachable. The parable sort of goes like this in the condensed version: A farmer goes out to seed his fields and there are four different places that the seeds get thrown too; on the path, on rocky ground, among thorns and then on good soil.  the short interpretation would be that we give in either to fleshly temptations, the pressure of the world or to the enemy; and then finally to God.

The first seed that fell on the path and were eaten by birds, are this kind of a person Jesus said, “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 what was sown along the path.” (Matthew 13:19) In South Africa, these would be the people that believe in ancestral worship or in creation and not a creator, or those that just believe in other religions.  It could also be the people that focus hole heartily on school work and making good grades, or wanting to do the things that they want to do and not caring too much into the future. Their focus is on something totally wrong and different than what it needs to be and Satan uses that for his benefit.

The second seed that fell on rocky ground, springing up really quick, but without any substance,  wilted and died are these kind of people Jesus said, “As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21yet he has no root in himself, by endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.” (Matthew 13:20-21) In South Africa, these would be a lot of people that might lean towards prosperity gospel or students not wanting to offend a westerner that has come over 10,000 miles to tell them something important.  They might receive it with joy and get excited, but then the trial comes and is placed on their laps, giving them a choice to show others and Christ that He is their all. To often, the opposite happens and they fall back into the way they had been living before, because it was either easier or comfortable.

The last, or unfruitful, seed that fell among the thorns and choked them out, are these kind of people Jesus said, “As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” (Matthew 13:22) In South Africa, this might be a combination of the last two where people feel that things happen by chance and they are the one’s that control their own life and lifestyle. They are also concerned with the world and worldly things, wanting more of power, money, fame, and attention; too the extent that it overtakes their minds and hearts and nothing can really get to them except something drastic.

I will try to explain what these three different seeds mean to me and how they relate to the big picture, but the people dipicted here are a lot of what we deal with each and everyday. Not to say that these people are only found here, they are all over the world and especially in the great country of money, the United States. We are still called to try and reach them, but the greatness of it all is that it doesn’t totally depend on us for their salvation.