A Sower and Seed

​Mark 4:2-3 ~ “And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ‘Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.’”
 
Mark this, dear Christian, not one person who has received the LORD Jesus Christ who did not first have the seed of the word of God planted in his heart. Through the proclamation of God’s word, through song or testimony, or perhaps a personal encounter with a true believer in Christ, the fruit of salvation is only produced from the seed of the word. The Apostle Paul identified this for us in Romans 10:14, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” If you take a moment, read through Mark, chapter four, and discover the parable of the sower.
 
What a simple statement our LORD Jesus makes: “Behold, a sower went out to sow.” This would be expected of one who is called upon to distribute seed to the waiting earth. Tilled and ready for planting, the sower went out to do what he does. And yet this simple statement carries for the Christian the purpose of God for the remaining days of our lives. You might be asking the question: who is the sower? And the answer, beloved, is... you. Those who are young and are reading this may be privileged to enjoy a lengthy time of service. Perhaps you have seen the sun pass beyond the horizon of your life and the days before you are few in number. It does not matter—you are called to be a sower. Salvation set you aside by the LORD Jesus to follow Him and be engaged in His work. Jesus tells His disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). This does not mean that you are required to take up a position in ministerial work. Some of you who read this may be called upon by the LORD to do so. But for most, it means that you take the life God has given you, and wherever you go, you scatter the seed of Christ’s word into the hearts of those around you. Where you work, where you live, in your home, with your family and friends, do the work of a gospel sower.
 
As we continue to think on the simple statement, “a sower went out to sow,” we must light upon the area of industry that is required by the LORD. Let us grasp this first concept—he went out. He did not stay behind, or remain indoors away from the land upon which the seed must be scattered. He did not devise a different strategy than going out. But to where did this sower go? A reading of Mark 4:4-8 will give illumination to this. This sower went out to the road, to the rocky ground, to the thorny growth and to the good soil. It would seem that he was rather indiscriminate in his sowing of the seed. And we cannot be selective in where we place the word of God. Jesus told us in Luke 14:23, “And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.” Let us not be vacated from the work of the LORD that when we are given the opportunity to go out, we remain behind. And, dear ones, do not be selective in your spreading the seed of God’s word. It must fall upon the various hearts, for the word of God will prove out the condition of it. God’s word does not return to Him void. The LORD says in Isaiah 55:11, “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” Do not discriminate based upon your perception of another, for you do not know what God has purposed when the word is planted.
 
And, finally, there is only one true seed for the “sower who went out to sow.” We read this in the Luke 8:11, the parallel text of our Scripture today, “The seed is the word of God.” The sower did not have the right to decide what he was to sow. He is required by the one who hired him to sow the desired crop. He does not sow thorns or briars. He will not scatter the seed of weeds. And, dear ones, you and I do not have the authority to decide for ourselves what seed is proper. Peter said, if you are born again, that it was through the right seed, “since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23). Let us not scatter opinion or speculation into the heart, but bring forth the word of God and let it be the precious kernels of life that is planted into the heart of those around us. For we are to be sowers who went out to sow.
 
In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

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