Scripture Reading: Luke 8.4-21 Today's inspiration: Luke 8.15 - But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart,

who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

Good Morning.

The Storyteller spins a tale, using elements His crowd could easily picture. . . the sower, with his bag of seed, slung on his shoulder, walks the land to scatter the seed for his would-be crops. Whether the crops would be realized would depend on several things, most importantly the soil on which it landed. Four possibilities: the first seed was sown along a heavily travelled path, worn down, and even scavenged by the birds; the second was spread on the familiar rocky ground that is common to all of Israel, in its constant struggle with dry land--any seed that sprouted here was doomed with no moisture to reach it; third, some seed fell among the nettles and thorns which choked any new growth; but alas, some seed landed on fertile ground, and yielded a very plentiful crop.

Jesus used this common agricultural scene to illustrate what happens with hearers of the Word, (the seed) and why it does--what contributes to a healthy bounty and what robs it. As a sower of the Seed, I think it is a brilliant parable. (a story which uses situations from every day life to teach kingdom truths) So, let's take a look, considering a couple things as we do--the quality of the seed is a constant, as is the sower. What changes with each application is the quality of the soil on which the seed lands, and the detractors or thieves that seek to stomp it out. So, let's make application, shall we? The seed sown on the path seems to be that which lands almost unnoticed; it is one of many elements involved--God's Word is often like that in our culture. It is just one of many stimuli broadcast into our lives, and faces competition from pop culture, skeptics, nay-sayers, and hardened hearts aplenty. O, the seed (the Word) could be implanted here, could grow too, but only with discerning choices on the part of the hearer.

The second scene has the Word falling on ears that find it compelling, but when the hearer doesn't get any feeding, the Word is never implanted in the hearer; he is never challenged or changed by it. I have seen this over and over. Men and women who are attracted to the Gospel and the things of God--maybe attend a one-time event and have a watershed experience, and then nothing. . . within days the substance evaporates and another experience takes its place in the halls of lost opportunities in their lives.

The third scene also has a promising start, but a short-lived future. The Word is recognized as relevant truth, with supernatural meaning and the offer of relationship with a living God. . . enter distraction >>>> work gets unbelievably crazy and overwhelming, (a thorn grows next to the little green shoot), your 13-year-old has repeated soccer games on Sunday morning, (another thorn on the other side of the little plant that would), some people at church really bug you--there's gotta be a better way to get close to God than that! (another nasty-looking weed), and pretty soon, you get the idea, the weeds are thriving instead of the newly-sprouted seed.

I was thinking about these three environments, and how representative they have been of my life at different points. The demise of these was a given, because the ground wasn't ready to receive the seed. Any gardener knows that the quality of her soil has much to do with its yield. When I first started gardening (remember when I told you how my neighbors came and helped us put in our front yard?), I didn't know how good I had it! We lived in Alameda, which is an island next to Oakland, across the bay from San Francisco. The soil was sandy, and drained beautifully. My roses and other plants flourished, though mildew and rust threatened. Do you see how brilliant Jesus' teaching was? His analogies were spot on. Our next home was inland, and I met clay. . . yuck! Every shovelful was a back breaking labor, every new planting bed had to be amended with good soil. . .

Let me ask you: what kind of soil represents your life, your heart? Does the truth of the gospel have any chance of taking root in your life?

The final seed landed on 'good soil'--it took root and produced a bountiful harvest. What made the soil good? Maybe it had been roto-tilled, turned up, amended, and watered well. Sometimes it is experiences in our lives that start the roto-tilling; once turned up and exposed a little, we are a little more open-and then if we become desirous of more, well, we've got a great environment for growth! When the Gospel takes root in our lives, we are changed. Transformation is a popular word today, and infomercials guarantee it or your money back with their offerings. Lasting change, real growth comes when our ears hear, and our hearts and minds are opened to be changed by the living Word.

So that you may grown,

Christine