The Farmer and the Seeds

“They hear the word, receive it, and produce a crop.” — Mark 4:20

One day Jesus sat in a boat by the lake, and the crowd stood on the shore listening. He told them this story.

“Listen! A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered the seed, throwing it out by the handful, some fell on the path. And the birds came and ate it up.

“Some seed fell on rocky ground, where there wasn’t much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil wasn’t deep. But when the sun came up, the young plants were scorched, and they withered away, because they had no roots.

“Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked the plants, so they didn’t produce any grain.

“But other seed fell on good soil. It came up, and grew, and produced a crop, some thirty times as much as was planted, some sixty times, and some even a hundred times!”

Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear!”

Later, when Jesus was alone with His disciples, they asked Him what the story meant. So Jesus explained it.

“The farmer plants God’s Word,” Jesus said.

“Some people are like the seed on the path. They hear God’s Word, but straight away the devil comes and takes it away, like birds snatching seed.

“Some people are like the seed on rocky ground. They hear the Word and are happy about it at first. But it doesn’t go deep into their hearts. So when trouble comes, or people are unkind to them because they believe, they quickly give up.

“Some people are like the seed among the thorns. They hear the Word, but then worries and wanting money and wanting other things crowd in, like thorns, and choke it. So it never grows.

“But some people are like the seed on good soil. They hear God’s Word, and they accept it, and it grows. And their lives produce a crop, thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as was planted.”

The same seed fell everywhere. The difference was the soil. Jesus was asking His listeners: “What kind of soil is your heart?”

When we hear God’s Word, like the stories in this book, we can let it go in one ear and out the other. Or we can let it sink deep into our hearts, and grow, and change us. Good soil hears God’s Word, holds on to it, and lets it grow.

Read it in your Bible: Mark 4:1–20

Dear God, please make my heart like good soil. Help me to listen to your Word, to hold on to it, and to let it grow in me. Amen.