Musings:02/13/10 The Sower Revisited by John

The Sower Revisited

In Mark 4:2, Jesus began telling all those who listened a parable about a farmer who sowed his seed expecting a harvest. He sowed indiscriminately, so seed fell on ground unused for crops as well as good ground. That way he covered all the ground that could and would produce crops. Today with our machinery we only put seed where it should be. To do otherwise would be considered a wasteful, but sowing by hand you can't be so accurate.

Jesus seemed surprised that the apostles did not understand His parable. He had to explain it them. The seed represented God's Word, the good news about Jesus. For some people who hear the Word, it never takes root, and Satan takes it away. It means nothing to those people. They make it valueless to themselves. Some are just so glad they have heard it! They are all set to really live for, and with God. When worldly troubles invade their lives, as they always do, and they are called on to suffer for Jesus, they fall away because they have no depth of belief. Still others have a chance to live forever, but the worries of this life such as keeping up financially with the neighbors, and the deceitfulness of riches come into play. The seed, God's Good News, is choked out of their minds and hearts! These three things happen to people today all around us and make the Gospel unfruitful! Now, I've written only about the Gospel, but the Law is not fruitful to any of these either. They allow Satan, fear, and their own desires to keep them out of the Kingdom of God!

Oh, but a lot of the seed fell on good ground verse 20 tells us. It springs up and grows without the sower's help! He has done his job, and now it pays off. These hear the Word, and they accept it. They bear fruit, some multiply the amount planted thirty times, some sixty, and some a hundred!

I believe these figures are illustrative, but they aren't in any way limiting. I like the way Jesus put it in John 15:1-5, He said He is "the true vine," and the Father cuts off any branch that does not bear fruit. The only ones who don't bear fruit are like those first three named in Mark 4. Then He tells us that every branch that does bear fruit, His Father prunes so that it becomes more fruitful. Then in verse 5, He tells us when we remain in Him, we will bear much fruit." Now, there has been a lot of discussion about what fruit He is talking about. Some say, the fruit of a Christian is another Christian! I have no problem with that except that we don't do the saving. Jesus does that. We already know that the word of God was the seed sown in Mark, and it was considered the fruit there. Some others say that the fruit is a life lived in the Spirit. Galatians 5:22, 23 says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Just as salvation comes from Jesus, all these things come from the Spirit! That leaves us something to think about, doesn't it? I certainly don't have a definitive answer as to what exactly the fruit Jesus spoke of is. I am satisfied that if I spend my life seeking to be like Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit free rein in my life, then I will bear some degree of the fruit Jesus spoke of. I invite you as an old hymn says, "Fix your eyes upon Jesus. Look full into His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. Real value is in our relationship to Jesus."