LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Monday 23rd August 2021
A SOWER WENT OUT TO SOW
Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:1-23
Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. Matthew 13:3
Jesus used parables to teach about the manner of the Kingdom of God. A parable is a short moral story with symbolic meaning. In the days of Jesus, it was the usual method that Rabbis used to teach lessons. Parables are easy to remember because they are stories.
Jesus’ parable of the sower is one that many know quite well. The parables of Jesus usually have an immediate situation to which we can apply its lessons. However, there are other ways in which we can apply the principles of a parable. We can therefore say that Jesus’ parables had a primary application and secondary application.
Primarily, we can apply the parable of the sower to the preaching of the gospel and how people respond to it. Jesus used the parable of the sower to show us four different ways that people relate to the word of God.
At any time God’s word is preached, people respond to it in any of the four different ways we see in the parable. Besides, the parable can have a secondary application for how we respond to new ideas or new events in life.
The parable uses three main images to tell the story.
- The sower. The parable begins memorably with, ‘a sower went out to sow’. The sower is the main actor in the parable who goes out to sow his seeds. The sower is the one who goes out to preach God’s word or plant a new idea.
- The seed. The seed is the word of God. It could also stand for a new idea. Isn’t it beautiful how the Lord describes the word of God as a seed? A seed may look tiny and insignificant, but it carries the power of a forest within it. The sower did not go out to eat his seed; he went out to sow his seed. That is one of the most valuable lessons of the Kingdom of God. God gives us seed; and when He provides us with a seed, we must sow it.
- The soil. The soil is the attitude with which we receive the word of God. The parable draws our attention to four different attitudes to the word of God. The seed is the same, but the soils are different. This parable shows us that our attitude to the word of God determines how it works in our lives.
Let’s get ready to do a soil inspection of our hearts.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for the power of your word. Help me to receive your word with the right attitude of heart. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
