Luke 8:4-6

Luke 8:4-6

And while a great crowd gathered together and the ones of the city came to Him, He said through a parable, “A sower went out to sow his seed.  And in his sowing, in one case it fell alongside the path.  And it was being trampled underfoot and the birds of heaven devoured it.  And others fell upon the rock.  And after being brought forth it was being withered for the sake of not having moisture.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus continues to teach the crowds that come to Him.  In this very familiar parable, we deal with four locations of seed.  The first one is the path.  Here the seed is trampled.  It isn’t even given the chance to grow.  Birds come and devour it before it even has a chance to grow.  I find this condition sad.  Perfectly god seed isn’t even given a chance!  Of course, this is like the Word of God that is readily discarded by those who have no desire to listen.  Other things have the attention of the people.  The perfectly good word of God falls into a place where it isn’t given a chance to blossom.

Have you ever ignored the Word of God?  How do you feel looking back and realizing that there were times in your life that you didn’t prioritize the Word?  How can this help you speak into the lives of others?

Second Thought:

The next group of seed that we see is the seed that falls upon the rock.  There is a really neat point that can come out of the description of the seed.  Notice that the activity of the seed is passive.  In other words, the activity is done to the seed.  The seed doesn’t grow.  Growth is brought forth out of the seed.  The seed experience growth, it doesn’t grow itself.  This is the same with us and faith.  God’s Word brings forth growth out of us.  We do not grow ourselves.  We experience growth.  The Father grows us.

Where has God grown faith in you?  What are the means through which God brings forth that growth?

Third Thought:

Notice that this seed withered.  It withered not because it was bad seed.  It withered because it had no moisture.  God did His work, but the environment didn’t do its part.  This is the same with us.  God wants us to grow.  If we even give Him a small opening, He will seize it and work within us.  But we need to respond.  We need to embrace His working.  He shouldn’t have to do all the work.  If He was going to do all the work, He could do it with stones, not living flesh with free will!

Where do you see God at work in your life?  Where do you Join Him in that work?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 8:7-8