Sow Seeds of Faith.
Let the number four compel you to sow, sow, sow, and sow once more. And delight in doing what you are.
Scripture
Our verse for today comes from Mark 4:3, “ Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. “
Background
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? If you believe what the Bible says, then I assume you’ll agree that it’s the chicken. Considered from another angle, though, is a chicken a chicken because it lays eggs, or does it lay eggs because it’s a chicken? Or in your case, are you a salesman because you sell, or do you sell because you are a salesman? Or a teacher and teaching, and so on? These word puzzles might remind us of the spiritual truth that we sin because we are sinners, and not the other way around. Our nature is expressed through our actions rather than our actions making us into who we are. Whenever the parable of the sower is discussed, usually the focus is on the indiscriminate call to share the gospel to everyone, or the characteristics of each place that the seed landed and how that compares to the different individuals who might hear the gospel. Sometimes points are made explaining or further describing the types of things that prevent the gospel from transforming one’s life beyond the brief examples Jesus gave in His interpretation of the parable. But I would like to linger over one simple fact, and that is that the sower sowed.
Application
Now, was he a sower because he sowed, or did he sow because he was a sower? I’m not sure, although I have my suspicions, but I do know that metaphorically, he shared the gospel with four people. Who among us will do that today? Sometimes it seems that because we know Jesus taught a parable with only a 25% success rate, we think it’s practically a lost cause to share the gospel with anyone. We know about the rocky soil and the choking thorns and the birds of the air, and so we never take the seed out of the bag. Whether we are sowers or not, nothing is getting sown. We are, you and I, what God has called us to be. That came first. There is no egg to muddy up the waters. The label that needs to be affixed to that calling is obedient or disobedient. Our loving God is looking for obedient sowers.
Charge
As we seek Him today, let the number four compel you to sow, sow, sow, and sow once more. And delight in doing what you are.
Author — Rich Holt | BCWorldview.org
Salvation — Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
