Parable of the Sower

1. On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. 2. And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore 3. Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. 5. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth 6. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away 7. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them 8. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty 9. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Matthew 13:1-9

In the scriptures Jesus always says “he who has ears let him hear” when there is a point that He really wants to get across to someone in His teaching. He always ends that particular teaching with that statement. He says it in such a way as to mean if you haven't heard what I've told you so far then listen to this because it is important.

So He goes on to tell the Parable of the Sower which is one of the most famous parables in the bible. It deals with people and their relationship to God. It breaks each of us down into four simple categories to make it almost impossible to misunderstand or misrepresent where we really are in our relationship with God.

This parable requires us to be honest with ourselves in order that we might come to terms with our humanity and sin nature. There are a lot of people that I have run into that preach at people about what the scriptures say but live worse than the people they preach at.

Have you ever ran into them ?

People are good at pointing out other peoples faults, there is nothing easier to do, we can always find something wrong in other people if we just look hard enough. Sometimes you don't have to look hard at all because they are just sitting there glaring at you. But that is not an open door for you to barge right in on their lives and try to run it for them.

When it comes to seeing our own faults we have trouble because we don't like to look at ourselves. We don't like to be confronted with our shortcomings and failures so we look outward instead of inward. That brings up another parable that we will cover very soon, but lets get into this parable for now.

Jesus is going to describe four different types of people in this parable to give us a gauge where we can determine where we really are in this walk we call life. There is one thing all these have in common with each other, they are all self centered people who want everything to work out for them, on their own terms. They are takers instead of givers.

Understand, this is not me judging you, this is me reading what is written so you can evaluate yourself, like I have said before, this is about us being honest with ourselves. In the final analysis it doesn't matter what Steve thinks about you or what anyone else thinks about you, it's what you think about yourself that counts.

The First Type of People.

“Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside and the birds came and devoured them.

If you have ever done any kind of farming then you can see there is something wrong with this picture right off the bat. This seed fell on top of the ground and was exposed to the elements, it has no covering or depth, and because of that it was immediately eaten by the birds.

Jesus explained it this way :

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. Matthew 13:19

This is someone who has heard the word preached to them and didn't really get what it was about. So while they are thinking about it, Satan sends someone to completely confuse them or make fun of them so that they felt stupid and ashamed. Next thing you know they just pass it off as a joke or fairytale and never really get serious about anything.

These are the people who are always looking for God to do something for them like He's some kind of trained animal who performs tricks when you want Him to. God does what God wants, and you do what He wants or you get nothing from Him.

These people go through life with their heads in a cloud and they really don't understand anything anyone tells them so they just stay in the same place day after day, year after year and nothing ever changes. Until something drastic happens to cause them to change, life will just pass them by without a whimper.

The Second Type of People .

Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. Matthew 13:5-6

Jesus describes this one as someone who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Matthew 13:20-21

This is person is what I call the Embarrassed Convert.

Why do I say that ?

Because this person ends up where someone is preaching the word and their ears get tickled by all the nice things Jesus wants to do for you. They think, “Hey ! That sounds good to me, I'm going to sign up.”

They think that once they ask Jesus to come into their lives all the bad things magically disappear and only beautiful things happen from that moment on.

Well guess what ?

For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Matthew 13:21

As soon as someone puts them to the test and they have to defend their new found belief they fold up like a newspaper.

You have three guys in an airplane which has lost power and it's going down and there's only two parachutes. They fight over the chutes until they finally get one and strap it on as quick as they can and bail out thinking they are safe.

But today this parachute is different, when you pull the cord on this chute there's nothing inside that's going to open. Jesus is the only way to avoid disaster in this scenario we call life. There is no other way.

These ones are embarrassed when confronted because they are weak and lack a sense of commitment, so if anyone who asks them anything about their conversion they try to pass it off like trying on a new pair of pants, “Yeah I tried it…it just didn't fit.

They try to blame God for their failures, He just didn't come through like the preacher said He would, I gave Him a couple of days and nothing happened.

The fact is, nothing ever works for them because their whole lives are just one failure after another with no hope in sight because they are too weak to even make the least amount of effort to overcome the challenges that come before them. It's easier to just give up.

A real Christian looks at failures as small setbacks because they know that if they do their part, if persevere and press through God will always come through and do His part no matter what.

So instead of saying you tried it, stop lying to yourself and do something to make a difference in your life. Make a commitment, if not to God then to yourself. Be honest with yourself and stop believing your own lies and lame excuses.

The Third Type of Person.

And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them .
Matt. 13:7

Jesus said that this one:

is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. Matt. 13:22

You see this type with their jaws flapping away in business meetings and on T.V. telling us how rich we can be or how great he or she is. Maybe they're rich and very affluent spreading their idea's about God being a mythical being made up for uneducated poor people. They could be a college professor who thinks he's so intelligent that there can never be a satisfactory explanation to explain who God is.

Then there are the people who say Christians are the most close minded people that they have ever met, you can't tell them anything. But when you try to have intelligent discussion with them they always go storming off shaking their heads and waving their hands because you just happen to catch them contradicting their own words.

Why are open minded people the most close minded ?

These types of people just love the things of the world, but are never satisfied with the world that they have made for themselves, they always want more or they want people to just agree with them.

Unless you are like them, unless you give them the respect that they think they deserve, then you are a threat to their existence and the world they have created for themselves, they don't want anything to do with you.

Is it OK to love yourself ?

Didn't Jesus say that we should love our neighbors as we love ourselves ?

Does Donald Trump love himself ?

Donald Trump loves himself so much he puts his name on everything yet he can't figure out what to do with his hair. He has the worst hairdo I've ever seen besides mine.

Do you think that was the kind of love Jesus was talking about ?

I don't think so, God's love is about pushing people up and never needing credit for it. Donald does everything he does to promote Donald Trump. He pushes up buildings and is obsessed with money. That's why Jesus said it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than it is for a rich man to enter heaven.

The Fourth Type of Person .

But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Matt. 13:8

Jesus said:
the seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

When you ask Jesus to come into your life you get a new perspective about what this message that He taught us means. It is no longer about you and what you can get from everyone else, it's about reaching out beyond yourself and telling people there is a better way. They don't have to be in a world of hopelessness.

We have a hunger to tell people the good news, that there is an escape from all the things we do to ourselves and each other. That God sent His Son to be a sacrifice for our sins.

He wants us to be a part of His Kingdom while we are here on this earth. Some are going to believe us, some won't believe us, but we will bring forth fruit no matter what. We will find those people who have had enough and want some changes in their lives.

We need to reach out to those we can help without expecting something in return. Some people have trouble buying into that thinking because they are used to being takers, what is the catch, because there is nothing for free in this life ?

Why do you think people hate phone solicitors and salesmen so much ?

The question we have to ask ourselves honestly is:

Which of these four types of people am I ?

Am I the one who is looking at everyone else's faults when I don't even see mine ?

Am I the one who has heard all this before but I still don't get it ?

Am I the Embarrassed Convert who gives up when someone makes me feel uncomfortable or am I the one flapping my jaws telling everyone I have the answer to all their problems ?

Only you can tell which one you are… Jesus wants to set you free from all those things making you miserable. You know what they are…

He wants to give you hope…He wants to heal your spirit , your body, your mind and your life. Most of all He wants to call you His friend…will you let Him ?