The sower sows. What happens next?

Jesus’ lesson in the parable of the sower

In the parable of the sower, Jesus wants to remind us of the great responsibility we have that comes from hearing God’s word. In the parable, only one out of four of the flock that heard the word kept it, and bore fruit to maturity. The remaining three had heard it more or less in vain. By telling us this parable, did Jesus want to leave us with the impression that the word would always receive this kind of reception? It appears that way, and several facts serve to confirm this. We notice that peo­ple’s hearts these days are the same as before. Things have not changed when it comes to being bound to the world and the things of this world.

The fruit of preaching the gospel for centuries is only a little flock, compared to the flock who have an appearance of godliness but deny its power. (2 Timothy 3:1-5.) Seeing that it is so difficult to keep the word we hear, and that it does not succeed for so many, do we still have the right to ex­hort ourselves and others to receive the word? Can we give hope, and can we have faith that it shall bear mature fruit in the different ones?

Yes, God be praised!!

All those who are born of God are not like a feather on life’s raging seas, not knowing whether they will end up on stony ground or among thorns, like the seed in the parable of the sower.

Receiving the word

God has put us on a steady and even path that leads to life. None of those who forsake everything for Jesus’ sake will be put to shame. But the fearful and cowardly are like those from whom the devil took the word so that they might not believe and be saved. Instead of us­ing the word as the sword of the Spirit with which to fight against the devil, they were so unstable and unfit for battle that they gave up. The word had a small beginning in the heart, but the command to be rooted and grounded in the word was not obeyed; consequently, they became easy victims of the evil one.

Those in whom the seed had fallen on stony ground advanced a little further even though they had no root. It is possible to be along without being rooted – but what a deception! They rejoiced and be­lieved, and we can be sure that they had many nice times in the church, but they were not rooted. When the hour of trial came which all of us have to go through – they fell away. How is it possible for us to avoid such a horrible fate? By nourishing the word with prayer and by having sincere fellowship with the saints. Then God will give the increase and we will have a root which cannot be re­moved.

Those who fell among the thorns are those who hear. They had received an ear so they could hear the word. Just think of the privi­lege and the opportunity they had received from God by having an ear to hear! But how did it go? Anxiety, riches, and lusts choked the word so they did not bear mature fruit. The devil had the victory once more. Jesus could not fetch them as His firstfruits. It is possible that they could have been plagued by anxiety for many years, with­out giving up, but the fruit did not mature. The devil wants to deceive us by getting us to be satisfied with a partial victory and almost ma­ture fruits. But Jesus showed us only one goal: mature fruit.

Bearing fruit

Those who received the seed on the good ground held fast to the word. The others had not managed to keep this firm attitude toward the word in their hearts. Firmness is the opposite of slackness and failure. Our dedication to God and our devotion to His word for the rest of our life causes us to be as firm as faith itself. It takes nothing less than this in order to bear fruit with patience.

The firstfruits – those who are in Christ – bear the fruits of the Spirit. There God gives the increase, because the right conditions are present. Never again will they bear sour and worm-eaten fruits, be­cause their hearts are noble and good.