On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.
Such large crowds gathered around him
that he got into a boat and sat down,
and the whole crowd stood along the shore.
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:
“A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
and when the sun rose it was scorched,
and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
“A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
I love this parable. It is so indicative of different types of human nature. We humans, are so much like this in actual practice.
Thinking about your spirtual life specifically. Some look at faith as a fad or a temporary thing, and they are easily snatched away by the evil one. Some go to a retreat, and get revved up and then when they go back to their lives, they quickly return to their old bad habits. Some truly faithful people are raised around pagans or allow the lure of riches to pull them away, and their faith is choked out…, it is so sad! But some are able to go to that retreat, and come home and make lasting changes, in their lives, and the faith blossoms and blooms into a beautiful thing producing much fruit.
Some context on the harvest…, the Palestinian farmer was normally happy with with 7 to 10 fold on their planting. Meaning for every seed planted you would get back 7 to 10 fruits at harvest time. So a harvest of 30 / 60 / 100 would be completely unbelieveable, but this is what God promises us through our works of evangelization, and it is what we should strive for in our lives and ministries.
The important thing that we need to consider for this parable is that just because your soil is not receptive at this moment, it may be rocky or infested with weeds, and the seed does not find its purchase right away, it does not mean that your soil always has to be that way. We must learn to cultavate our soil. If we find ourselves in rocky soil, or in thorns, you might have to do some weeding and raking to be ready to recieve the seed of God’s word. If you are on the hard path you may need a jackhammer, to break up the rocks and get down to rich soil…, but we need to do whatever we can to prepare ourselves to be open to what God has for us, and make ourselves into rich soil.
This may mean changing with whom you live or hang out with, it may mean changing what you read, or watch or browse. It may mean dedicating your daily routine to prayer, and fasting. But you must do something, because God’s seed is waiting for you to recieve it.
