Sower: August 19, 2014

TODAYS WORD FOR TUESDAY AUGUST 19, 2014.

SOWER

DEFINITION:

One who scatters or plants seed.

SCRIPTURE:

And as he sowed some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. Matthew 13:4-5.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERENCE:

We are taking one parable at a time for the next two weeks and looking at it carefully. This first parable is easy to understand, because Jesus interpreted it for His disciples. The sower is one who sows the Word of the Kingdom of God in the world. It is either the Lord Himself or a servant of His, like us. The seed is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Word of God, the incorruptible seed. The ground onto which the gospel seed is sown is the heart of the men who are the hearers that we are to communicate to.

Jesus made it very simple and clear as to what He wants us to do. We cannot say that we do not understand. He wants us to share the good news of the gospel to our fellow man (and women). Then He went on to let us know what kind of responses we could expect.

Jesus was teaching in this parable that a sower went forth to sow and a large number that listened did not allow the Word to take permanent root. Only a small number allowed the Word to take permanent root and only a very few allowed the Word to bear 100% fruit.

This is true today. Many unbelievers hear about God daily on television, radio, by communication from believers, and some even in churches. But only a small number respond to the gospel message. Also very few begin to grow in their knowledge of God and His Word.

There are four responses that we can expect to the gospel message when we present it to unbelievers. In other words, there are four different types of ground upon which the sown seed may fall. Christ did not teach that all the world would be converted even though that was His desire. These four responses to the Gospel are not caused by different qualities of seed that have been sown because the Gospel is the same and never changes because God does not change. Christ put the responsibility for faith or unbelief on the soil, which is the hearer.

The first response comes from a hard heart. The wayside soil is hard and unprepared for seed. The fowls that devour the seed that fell on the hard ground are Satan and his evil demons. How many people do you know that have hearts that are hardened and have no desire to listen to the gospel? These people just do not want to hear about God because of their hardened hearts.

The writer Edward Dahlberg observed, “At nineteen, I was a stranger to myself and would not accept there was a God who loved me. At forty I asked, “Who am I?” At fifty I concluded I would never know. A recent poll among University students revealed that 92% of all students really do not know who they are or if there is a personal God that wants to love them. Jesus talked about these and their hardened hearts in this parable.

The second response comes from a shallow heart. Such a person has no spiritual depth and no commitment to God’s Word. He holds to his religious decision of honoring God for a while, but when tribulation or persecution comes his way he is offended that God allowed it and falls away from his profession of faith.

They are the ones who blame God when they have problems and life gets difficult for them. They say that they just cannot believe that God really cares about them if God would allow them to suffer. We all know people like this. They are, what we might call fair-weather believers that only want to say they know God when all is going well.

The third response comes from a worldly heart. A heart that loves the world system is a heart alienated from God. The love of money, success, and the pleasures of the world choke out the influence of the Word of God in the life of the professing believer so that he becomes unfruitful. This type of person has a choice problem. They choose fame and fortune over God.

The fourth response comes from an understanding heart. Only a few people allow the Word of God to take permanent root. They are the ones that have an honest and good heart. They hear the Word of God and understand it and they bear the fruit of God’s Word in their own life.  They will be faithful to God, obey His commandments and be a witness to the lost.

Our prayer is that each person reading this devotional has a honest, understanding and good heart wanting to share the good news of the gospel and desiring to grow daily in the knowledge of the Word.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Proverbs 3:5-6.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

PRAYER:

It is my prayer today that I can have an understanding heart and be a fruitful believer. May the Word of God have a permanent root in my life and in the lives of my family so that together we can be used according to Your desire.