The Sower and The Soil

A sower went out to sow. I'm going to stop right there because most of us know the rest of the parable (but here’s the link to Mat 13.3-9 just in case). Who doesn't want to bring forth some 30, some 60, some 100 fold yield harvest in their lives? And yet we often fail to see the harvest in our lives. The problem of course is not the seed. Yes, the problem is often the soil but is it the soil's fault? 

How many of us know that the sower is truly a WORK-man? 

We talk about the seed, and the condition of the ground, but Jesus didn’t talk much about the sower, which people of his time would have understood. The sower realizes that in order for the seed to grow it needs to be in the ground at the right depth, not laying on the path or on top where birds would eat it. He knew if there are rocks in the ground it is his responsibility to break up and pull out the rocks so the roots could get to the right depth and the plant not burn up. He understood that it's his responsibility to burn up and pull out the briars and thorns to keep the seed from being choked out. Jesus didn't explain that: in an agrarian culture every good sower knows that you must discern the condition of the ground and then you must prepare the soil, before you ever place in the seed; just like in our modern culture, we know we need internet connectivity to get tik-tok videos and shop. 

Why do we call it the "Parable of the Sower" and give so little emphasis to the sower while quoting the parable? Dear reader, that is the whole point here, for the word says to know those that labor among you.

The worker, the sower, does the work. Do you think that he skips to the easiest part when the land hasn’t been prepared? When was the last time you saw a rock simply cast out of the ground by the ground? Thorns and thistles have to be burnt and then removed from the ground. 

We quote ""Is not My word like a fire?" says the LORD, "And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?", "(Jer 23:29 NKJV), and we teach that God speaks His Word from Heaven, but uses us as His hands in the Earth. David said He teaches my hands to make war (Psa 18:34a NKJV). Surely God could have destroyed all the armies that David went against by Himself, and Jesus could have spread the gospel by Himself, but God makes warriors for the battle and laborers for the harvest, that His work might be accomplished. We preach, "Gideon, the Sword of the Lord!" but will you, O Laborer, be the Hammer and the Fire of the Lord? Will you allow the Living Waters to flow from your belly? 

My brother and sister, be encouraged. Many of us have been the product of poor workmanship. Workmen who confusingly toss around God's good seed by tasking it to press itself into the soil far enough to make sure it has reached the right depth, to break up ground, and to pull up weeds and thorns. That is the work of the WORK-man, the laborer; not the seed, and not the soil. “So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building" (1Co 3:7-9 NKJV). He expects his laborers to labor, and there will be a reward according to his own labor.

A true worker of the soil knows the importance of a relationship with the land. It starts with having a legal right to work the land, an eye and an ear to know the land, a heart to work the land, and finally putting in the sweat. To work the land. That it might develop a harvest.

Work The Lands

I'm not saying that the land, metaphorically the hearts of those who receive the Word, doesn't have a role to play. I am saying that sometimes we overemphasize the capacity of wounded souls to fix themselves, and this is the reason why God sent His word and healed them (Psa 107:20a NKJV) and it pleased Him in His own wisdom, through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. (1Co 1:21b NKJV)

The legal right to work the land is a relationship with that land. Discernment is looking intently at and listening to the land to see what must be done to insure the land is ready for the seed. The heart to work the land or the greatest attribute a laborer must have is patience, because working the land, healing the soil, it's long work that takes time. It takes patience because you do it in hope of seeing a harvest long before you deposit the fruit bearing or crop producing seed. 

Let me make it plain. The good seed is the Word of God. The soil is the heart and life of the believer. And the sower? That's the one who labors to help that life flourish. Sometimes it's not our fault if we're not good ground (at least not yet). The ground can't fix itself. When our lives are full of the rocks and thorns of insecurity, fears, anxieties, bitterness, and the litter of broken religious systems (evidenced by those who have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof by manifesting healing in the inner lives they touch), we can't fix ourselves! Many times you can't even see your own deficiencies and woundedness. How in creation will you work on them? "Self help is no help at all."

There is a remedy. Ask God to give your land, your heart, a Sabbath rest, and then look for someone who is willing to labor with your wounded heart. A Sabbath rest is described as a time when the land was given rest to make it productive again, but I'm speaking of a time where you just rest away from all of the influences which have drained the resources and productivity of your soul. 

And laborer, if you find that the fields under your watch aren't flourishing, but you're close enough to see the seeds still laying on the path and rocks and thorns, then why aren't you planting deep enough, why haven't you broken up the rocks, why haven't you burned and pulled up the thorns? 

And pray. Pray that God sends forth laborers, true laborers, into the harvest and that he heals our lands.

Let everyone have ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.