I’ve often thought about the sower from Jesus’ Parable of the Sower, as we read about in the Gospel of Luke:
“The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great” (Luke 8:5-8, NASB).
I’ve often imagined what the sower looked like as he sowed the seeds. It is interesting to me that the sower didn’t stop to pick up the seed that fell by the road, or hang around to chase off the birds that came to feast on it. He kept moving forward to sow.
He didn’t stop to water the seed that fell on the rocky soil. That wasn’t his purpose; he kept moving forward to sow. The sower didn’t put down his bag of seed and begin to dig out the thorns; he continued to move forward to sow. I don’t imagine he even hung around to watch how the seed that fell on good soil would grow and produce a crop. I picture him walking on, continuously moving forward to sow.
What if the sower had stopped sowing and tried to guard the seed that fell by the road? He would not have been able to complete the task he had been assigned: He was a sower. Had he stopped sowing in order to give attention to other things, the seed would not have been sown in good soil. He would never have known the joy of planting a crop that gave a hundred-fold return.
In the Heartland District, we help our church planters answer three basic questions:
- “Who am I?” (Gen. 1:26-30, NKJV)
- “What am I here for?” (Gen. 2:15-17, NKJV)
- “Who will help?” (Gen. 2:18-25, NKJV)
Knowing who we are created to be and having a clear understanding of our role in the kingdom is essential. It is what enables us to stay on task as we go about our Father’s business.
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