Daily Devotions
“A farmer went out to sow his seed.” Matthew 13:3
Many gardens dot the backyards of our land. If you have planted a garden, by now you are harvesting or anticipating the harvest. But it all begins with sowing the seed. Jesus knew that also, as He told the familiar parable of the sower. Over the next several days we focus on the parable and its meaning for our lives. Ask yourself the question, “Is my soil receptive to God’s seed?’
Jesus moves from the synagogue to the seashore, where large crowds gather to hear Him. He teaches about the Kingdom by using several parables, all down-to-earth examples with immediate application to the people who hear and understand.
He begins with the parable of the sower. Two common methods of sowing were employed. In the broadcasting method, the farmer would simply throw the seed to either side of him and let the wind carry the seed. Or sometimes a sack of seed was placed on a donkey. A hole cut in the corner of the bag permitted the seed to fall to the ground as the donkey meandered through the field. Either method would account for the kinds of soil described in the parable.
Clearly the seed represents the Word of God, described by Jesus as “the message about the Kingdom” (Matthew 13:19). That Word is powerful and effective, always producing a harvest. God, the Sower, provides the good news that the Kingdom comes in Jesus Christ, who suffers and dies to pay for the world’s sin.
We now enter the parable. The Sower wants to sow the good seed of the Word on our soil so that He can produce an abundant harvest in us. Will we be receptive soil? What a joy to receive that seed of the Kingdom in action! Thank God for His powerful Word and His victorious Son! Tomorrow we begin to consider the kinds of soil upon which the seed falls.
PRAYER: O Lord, make me receptive to Your Word and enable me to spread that Word to others. Amen.
(Devotions from “My Daily Devotion” by Dr. Stephen J. Carter, copyright 1998, CPH. All rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. Permission is granted for one-time emailing of this link to a friend. For ordering information, please contact CPH at 800-325-3040 or visit www.cph.org).