Parable of the Soils
Daily Scripture Readings
Monday: Matthew 13:1-9
Tuesday: Matthew 13:10-17
Wednesday: Isaiah 6:1-13
Thursday: Matthew 6:25-27
Friday: Matthew 6:28-34
Saturday: Matthew 7:7-12
Sunday: Matthew 13:18-23
Opening Prayer
Kind Father, You sow your Word into the world with extravagance and grace. We want to be good soil. Help us to desire your Word afresh and provide the growth and fruitfulness that only you can bring. In Jesus’ Name, AMEN.
Devotional:
This week and next, we will be looking at the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-9). As Jesus concludes the parables, his disciples ask him, “Why parables?” Sure that was a good story, but what does it all mean? And why tell a cryptic story in the first place? Why not just come right out and say what you want?
When I was in college, our campus recreation center had a rock wall you could climb. It was 53’ tall! Even with a harness and a belayer, I had to seriously confront my fear of heights in order to make it to the top. Turns out, this was a fairly popular place to be–the rock wall seemed to naturally foster a community of adventurous individuals. There was a guy who worked there, a non-traditional student in his mid forties named Joe. There was something about Joe that gave you the impression there was more there than meets the eye. One evening, as attendance at the wall dropped off, I was working on building some endurance climbing, and Joe proceeded to share a personal story that was both fantastic and borderline unbelievable–it was incredible. Joe immediately ranked on my top all time best storytellers list. Before long, I found myself going to the wall for climbing, but also (and maybe moreso) for the chance to hear another one of Joe’s stories. They were that good.
Here’s where the paths cross. Joe was at the rock wall for anyone to interact with, but only some people got to hear his stories. The stories were only for the people who really wanted them. Did you catch that in this story? Jesus tells everyone the parable but he only explains the parable to the disciples and those who stay around to hear more. The parables are Jesus' way of siphoning out who really wants it and who doesn’t. The sad truth of the human heart is that not everyone wants the truth that will set them free. So we have to ask ourselves which type of person we will be, “Do we really want to know and understand what Jesus teaches?”