Parable of the Soils - Week 2
Daily Scripture Readings
Monday: Matthew 13:1-9
Tuesday: Matthew 13:18-23
Wednesday: Proverbs 3:5-6
Thursday: 1 Timothy 6:6-10
Friday: James 1:2-8
Saturday: Galatians 6:1-10
Sunday: Hebrews 10:19-25
Opening Prayer
Lord, You are the good and gracious sower. Help us in every way to be good soil–help us to hear your word and to understand it. Help us to persevere through the temptations and trials that we face. Work in us, that we too might yield an abundant harvest in the Kingdom of God.
In Jesus’ Name, AMEN.
Devotional:
This week and last week, we have been looking at the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-9). The parable (also recorded in Mark 4 and Luke 8) is interesting in a way because Jesus later goes on to explain the parable (Matthew 13:18-23).
In the story Jesus presents four different soils where the sower sows seed: the path, the rocky places, the thorny places, and the good soil. Later, Jesus explains that the seed sown on the path represents those who hear the message about the kingdom but don’t understand it. The rocky soil represents those who hear the word and receive it joyfully, but fail to endure because they lack roots and depth. Third, the thorny soil represents those who hear the word but the concerns of this world and the “deceitfulness of wealth” choke out any chance of the word maturing and bearing fruit. In only the final case, that of the good soil, is there real growth, maturity and fruitfulness. Jesus says the good soil represents the one who hears the word and understands it. The good soil in turn produces a harvest of 30, 60, or even 100 times what was sown.
As I read the passage, I am struck by a couple things. The first is what we learn about the sower–He sows lavishly! He takes precious seed and scatters it everywhere, in indiscriminate fashion. In other words–the sower wants every soil, every person, to have access to good seed.
The second realization is this–who is in control of the type of soil? There’s no mention of the farmer working to cultivate the soil. This is probably because that isn’t the point Jesus is trying to make. Here, the scripture indicates that the type of soil depends on the person who hears the word and their response to it. The hearer is the one who decides for themselves which type of soil they will be.
So for us, we are invited, confronted perhaps, with the same question as this audience, “What soil are we going to be?” Will we simply fail to understand, letting the words slip through our heads without a desire to wrestle and grasp them? Will we experience the joyous reception only later to wither due to lack of depth and perseverance? Will we be dominated by the desires for wealth, and the concerns of money? Or will we hear the word and understand it? Will we be the ones who continue to ask, continue to seek, continue to knock until we receive? Will we choose to be good soil?