Be Still - February 8, 2023

Matthew 13: 3-7 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.” (NIV)

Reexamining one’s faith is to be preferred to skating through life on the thin ice of superficial belief lacking solid conviction.*

Most of us, upon reading this parable, will not see ourselves as one of those seeds that went awry. Anyone who considers himself a Christian will identify with the seed that fell on good soil (verse 8) – but only after the passage of time can we know the true condition of the soil of our own hearts. Read verses 19 through 23 carefully as Jesus explains the meaning of the parable: 

· The seed eaten by birds = anyone who hears the message, doesn’t understand it, and is swept away by Satan before the seed can take root. 

· The seed that fell on rocky places = the one who hears the word, receives it joyfully, but the seed is unable to form deep roots so he falls away at the first sign of trouble. 

· The seed that fell among the thorns = the one who hears the word but allows the worries of life and the deceitfulness of wealth to choke the seed, rendering it unfruitful. 

Do you still think you are the good seed – or can you see your potential to be one of the “bad” seeds? 

What can you do to prevent spiritual disaster in your life or in someone else’s life? A Christian has a responsibility to himself and to others. Getting into the Word for yourself is a great way to prepare your soil for a good crop. And those bad seeds in the parable might not have failed if someone farther along in the faith had stepped up to disciple them. Sometimes we’re the seed, sometimes we’re the sower.

There’s joy in serving others, but the joy multiplies when we equip someone else to serve.*