Seeds/Birds/Rocky Places/Thorns/Good Soil

It was a very fruitful session for me yesterday at Potter & Clay. The topic was on the Word of God (a.k.a. the Bible) and the the key passage for the bible study was the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-8):

¹That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. ²Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. ³Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown..."

I've always thought that this verse refers to us Christians as the seed, and it implies that we need to grow tall (i.e. reaching God) and to be strongly rooted in God's word. But as I reflected on this passage, I realised that this verse might also refer us Christians as either the birds, rocky places, thorns or good soil! And the seed(s) refers to people that God brought to our lives (i.e. either in church/youth ministry) to be looked after.

Do we see ourselves like the birds who took advantage of the seed? In other words, are we welcoming new people for the purpose of their use, and not for the sake of their soul? Or do we see ourselves as rocky places without much soil, where fellowship and bible study are on the mere surface? So although our members might know the bible in and out, when trouble (i.e. persecution/times of trials) comes their faith withers because the fellowship is merely on the superficial level and not on a deeper, personal and more rooted level. Or are we like thorns which suppress the growth of our members because of our self-righteous or holier-than-thou attitudes, judging others without looking at ourselves first? Lastly are we like good soil, which allows people to transform from their seed capsules to beautiful golden wheat (i.e. life change)? Thus when people grow deeper in faith, naturally through word of mouth; multitudes come to have their own life changed.

Amen.