Have you ever tried planting some seeds in a garden? If you have, then you probably know that not every seed will “germinate,” or sprout. I used to plant many different kinds of seeds in our garden; tomatoes, beans, peas, corn, squash, etc. As our growing season in Minnesota is rather short, sometimes I would need to plant certain seeds earlier than others so that the plants would be able to mature before the fall.
So, every March or April I would go out and purchase all of the seeds that I would need, and begin to start planting my seeds into pots. Seed by seed I would plant, until all of my planting pots were filled. I usually had several seeds that I never got around to planting, and these seeds I would leave for the next season.
One spring, I had enough seeds left over from previous growing seasons that I decided that I didn’t need to buy any that year. I planted all of my seeds as usual, and waited for them to start growing. After about a week, my first seed popped out of the ground, and spread its leaves. Figuring that the rest of the seeds wouldn’t be too far behind, I expectantly waited. But several more days passed, and only a handful of other seeds had come up. I became restless and impatient and decided to check on the other un-sprouted seeds. As I carefully dug around in the dirt of my pots, I discovered that a large portion of my seeds had become too old, and they wouldn’t grow. It wasn’t for my lack of planting them, they just didn’t grow.
This is kind of similar to the parable that Jesus taught in Mark 4.
“Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.” Mark 4:3-8
A few verses later, Jesus explained the meaning of this parable to His disciples.
“The sower soweth the word.
And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.
And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.” Mark 4:14-20
So, the sower is a man who goes and spreads those little seeds of faith to others out in the world, to whoever he can. But like the parable says, not all of the seeds will reach “good ground” and become fruitful. Some people may hear the word of God, but immediately forget it and have that seed stolen away from them. Others may gladly receive the word, but when they are tempted or persecuted for being a Christian, that seed of faith withers away, and dies. And then some people will hear the word, but other things become more important to them: money, possessions, or other pleasures of the world, and that seed of faith never matures. And lastly, some people will hear God’s word, and it will sink down deep into their hearts, and it will mature into a strong, solid, fruitful faith.
Some people may even hear God’s word, and believe for a short while, but because of temptations in the world, that seed will die, and become unfruitful. Some things might become more important to them than spending time with God. Instead of going to church regularly, it becomes once a month, or once every few months, until maybe they don’t go at all.
One thing that a preacher of God’s word needs to know: We are not responsible for the growth. Just as I couldn’t “make” those old seeds begin to grow, we cannot make the seed of faith begin to grow inside of a person. All we can do is plant as many seeds as we can; it is God who does the growth inside of a person.
After Paul’s conversion, his time was spent sowing God’s word to people everywhere he went. Not all of those seeds fell into “good ground” and grew, but that wasn’t Paul’s job. He was just the sower; it is God who controls the growth.
Just remember, God gives the increase. God takes care of the growth inside a person. You just need to keep sowing those seeds, and leave the rest up to Him.
In Christ,
Andrew
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