Tag Archives: sower

One person sows, and another reaps (John 4:32-38), January 26, 2017

Today’s Podcast

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
“One person sows, and another reaps.” It seems no matter how hard we try, someone else gets the credit and the profit for the work we do. Is that fair? Listen to what Jesus has to say.
Scripture
1. John 4:32-38
2. Jesus: I have food to eat that you know nothing about.

Disciples (to one another): Is it possible someone else has brought Him food while we were away?

Jesus: I receive My nourishment by serving the will of the Father who sent Me and completing His work. You have heard others say, “Be patient; we have four more months to wait until the crops are ready for the harvest.” I say, take a closer look and you will see that the fields are ripe and ready for the harvest. The harvester is collecting his pay, harvesting fruit ripe for eternal life. So even now, he and the sower are celebrating their fortune. The saying may be old, but it is true: “One person sows, and another reaps.” I sent you to harvest where you have not labored; someone else took the time to plant and cultivate, and you feast on the fruit of their labor.

Devotional
1. It just doesn’t seem fair, does it? You do the work and someone else reaps the benefit. We sometimes feel that way with the companies we work for or the when we purchase big ticket items and think about the profits the companies must be making and in all sorts of situations. But we need to stop and remember Jesus’ words. The saying is old, but it is true.
2. God made it that way
  1. One person sows and another reaps is true in more cases than you think and part of being in a community
  2. He made us interdependent
  3. Each of us have different skills and talents
  4. Stop and think about what it means for us today
3. One sows another reaps
  1. You drive a car you probably didn’t make
  2. You eat food you probably didn’t grow
  3. You eat meat you probably didn’t raise
  4. You wear clothes you probably didn’t make
  5. You sit on chairs and eat at tables you didn’t construct
  6. Think of the things you enjoy you had no part in creating
4. One person sowing and another reaping is the nature of life
  1. Jesus uses the example to talk about the harvest of people ready to be introduced to the kingdom of God
  2. We Satan sneak in feelings of jealousy about someone else’s reaping
  3. When we think about the nature of sowing and reaping in everyday life our attitude changes
5. Remember the story of sowing and reaping and be happy you live in community with others so you don’t have to create everything yourself. You can enjoy the efforts of others and they can enjoy your efforts as well.

If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Do a little tilling (Luke 8:5-15) October 16, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Hebrews 11-13

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 8:5-15
Jesus: Once a farmer went out to scatter seed in his fields. Some seeds fell along a trail where they were crushed underfoot by people walking by. Birds flew in and ate those seeds. Other seeds fell on gravel. Those seeds sprouted but soon withered, depleted of moisture under the scorching sun. Still other seeds landed among thorns where they grew for a while, but eventually the thorns stunted them so they couldn’t thrive or bear fruit. But some seeds fell into good soil—soft, moist, free from thorns. These seeds not only grew, but they also produced more seeds, a hundred times what the farmer originally planted. If you have ears, hear My meaning!
His disciples heard the words, but the deeper meaning eluded them.
Disciples: What were You trying to say?
Jesus: The kingdom of God contains many secrets.
They keep listening, but do not comprehend;
keep observing, but do not understand.
I want you to understand, so here’s the interpretation: The voice of God falls on human hearts like seeds scattered across a field. Some people hear that message, but the devil opposes the liberation that would come to them by believing. So he swoops in and steals the message from their hard hearts like birds stealing the seeds from the footpath. Others receive the message enthusiastically, but their vitality is short-lived because the message cannot be deeply rooted in their shallow hearts. In the heat of temptation, their faith withers, like the seeds that sprouted in gravelly soil. A third group hears the message, but as time passes, the daily anxieties, the pursuit of wealth, and life’s addicting delights outpace the growth of the message in their hearts. Even if the message blossoms and fruit begins to form, the fruit never fully matures because the thorns choke out the plants’ vitality.
But some people hear the message and let it take root deeply in receptive hearts made fertile by honesty and goodness. With patient dependability, they bear good fruit.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

So there are two perspectives from which to view Jesus’ story as He tells it to the crowd that day. Are you the one sowing the seed or are you the soil on which the seed is sown? It’s important to understand that each of us are in both positions all the time if we are part of the kingdom of God. Now why would I say that if we have already heard the word and accepted Christ as Lord of our life? What would make us continue to need to hear this story and apply it to our lives?

Let’s think about the story from the sower’s perspective first. Sometimes and in some places sharing the word will result in only pain and suffering for those who share it with nothing good in return. The hearers are like the hard path Jesus talked about that seed takes no root at all. Sharing the word at those times is a waste of breath and effort. Like arguing with a drunk. Nothing you say will be comprehended or remembered because of the circumstances at the time. Every once in a while you know you’re in that situation, but those don’t come around often.

If I’m honest, most of the time, I think I find myself among rocks and thorns when I’m sharing with people in the world. Either the truth takes little root because of the cultural background of the individual and there just isn’t any comparisons to help make the transition from what they have heard and believed all their life to the truth of God’s word. Or they are so tied to the pleasures of this world and the lies Satan gives us that they don’t want to give them up for any reason. They want the temporary pleasures more than they want eternal life. They want their way and self control more than their willingness to let God control their life. We still should share the message with these because the seed does take root. Some will grow. Most will be choked out because of the rock or the thorns, but some will survive even in that environment. We must share with them and pray that God will rescue them from their situation.

Then there are those you share the word with that are eager to hear. They need to know God’s truth and want hope that nothing and no one can give except God. They want freedom from the burden of sin they carry. The guilt that sin piles on our shoulders that can never be relieved except by the grace of a merciful God. These listen intently to the testimony we give as we share what God has done for us. These are like the rich, moist, fertile soil that produces a bountiful crop at harvest time. These are the people we must find and to whom we must share boldly and openly. These are the ones who will grow to become sowers themselves and reap their own harvests one day.

How about the story from the soil’s perspective? Why would I mention that even believers must take heed to this story? It’s because we never quit learning. God never leaves us as we are because we never attain the perfection He wants us to attain in this life. Remember we live in damaged bodies. We inherited these afflicted frames through the sin scarred world in which we live. So there is a lot of work to be done to help us become more like Christ.

Studies tell us it takes 10,000 of focused practice to become an expert in any field. But to have complete mastery over that same field take much more than that 10,000 hours. There’s a difference between being an expert and having complete mastery over something. God wants us to have mastery by giving Him complete mastery. The problem is we have remnants of that Adamic nature that plagues us as long as we live in these bodies of clay.

So as God gives you instruction, will you be like the hard packed path and not listen to Him at all? Or like the rocky and thorny soil and let your wishes over ride His so that His new truth for your life doesn’t take root and help you become more like Him? Or will you let your life always be like the rich, moist, fertile soil so that whatever God shares with you will germinate, grow, and return a harvest a hundred fold in your life? The good news is you get to choose the type soil you let your life consist of. You’re the farmer of your heart. How about doing a little tilling today?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Which soil are you? (Matthew 13:18-23) March 24, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Job 23-24

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 13:18-23
Jesus: This is what the parable of the sower means. It is about the kingdom of heaven. When someone hears the story of the Kingdom and cannot understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away whatever goodness and holiness had been sown in the heart. This is like the seeds sown beside the road. You know people who hear the word of God and receive it joyfully—but then, somehow, the word fails to take root in their hearts. It is temporary. As soon as there is trouble for those people, they trip: those people are the seeds strewn on the rocky soil. And you know people who hear the word, but it is choked inside them because they constantly worry and prefer the wealth and pleasures of the world: they prefer drunken dinner parties to prayer, power to piety, and riches to righteousness. Those people are like the seeds sown among thorns. The people who hear the word and receive it and grow in it—those are like the seeds sown on good soil. They produce a bumper crop, 30 or 60 or 100 times what was sown.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

In these verses, Jesus explains His earlier parable. We talked about our missionary responsibility and how we might act as sower looking for those most receptive to the good news. Today, what if you are the soil? What kind of soil are you?

Are you like the rocky soil? Hard-headed and refuse to hear the word and understand it? Do you refuse to let God speak to you through the gospel and just play off the scriptures as so many fairy tales or exaggerations from overly zealous religious freaks? Do you flat refuse to hear God’s word in this day of “enlightened scientific knowledge about all things”? If you fit in that category, you’ll be as fruitful as that concrete like soil on the path beaten down by everyone walking on it. The word won’t get through to you because of your refusal to listen.

Are you like the soil plagued with thorns that choke out the crops? You listen and accept the truth, but then get out in the world and listen to what they have to say and are swayed by their argument, too. You find yourself living life by the last message you heard. So was the last message from God or from the world? Is it Sunday or Tuesday? Are you at church or at work? You bend according to the company you keep and have no opinion of your own, unable to stand on your own two feet and make a decision about which side you will take.

The problem with that stance is you really have made a decision. You’re like the church at Laodecia Jesus had John send the letter about being lukewarm. Thinking everything was okay when Jesus says He would vomit you out of His mouth. He would rather you be cold as ice than lukewarm. At least then you might have a chance of seeing your lost condition and changing. But trying to grow among the thorns, you get just enough nourishment, just enough of the water and nutrients from the soil that you think you’re okay. But you’re not. The thorns choke the life out of you until finally you just wither away.

Hopefully, you are like the good soil Jesus talks about. Rich in nutrients, loose and ready to accept the seed the sower plants. Ready to hear God’s word and plant it in your heart. You’re ready to not just hear His word, but meditate on it, study it, then put it into practice. You’re ready to live it until other see your good works and glorify God because of them. Hopefully, you are like that good soil that creates a bumper crop at harvest time – 30, 60, 100 fold – bringing new disciples into the fold. Helping others find Christ and knowing His peace and forgiveness is for them, too.

Hopefully, you are like that good soil that Jesus talks about. Ready to receive all He has for you and ready to be part of His master plan to bring others to know His will that all would come to the saving knowledge of God’s Son. Ready to give testimony to all God has done in your life and act as His emissary in a world that has too many rocks and thorns and not enough ground ready to plow.

Hopefully, you are like that good soil that Jesus talks about, ready to become the person He created you to be. Full of His Spirit. Acting on His behalf. Sharing His message. Bringing others into His kingdom.

The great thing about the story of the sower and the soil is that you get to pick what kind of soil you want to be. So which is it? Are you the rocky soil, the thorny soil, or the good soil? I pray you make the right choice. Your eternal destiny depends on it.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Are you ready to sow some seeds? (Matthew 13:3-9) March 22, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 Samuel 6-10

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 13:3-9
Jesus: Once there was a sower who scattered seeds. One day he walked in a field scattering seeds as he went. Some seeds fell beside a road, and a flock of birds came and ate all those seeds. So the sower scattered seeds in a field, one with shallow soil and strewn with rocks. But the seeds grew quickly amid all the rocks, without rooting themselves in the shallow soil. Their roots got tangled up in all the stones. The sun scorched these seeds, and they died. And so the sower scattered seeds near a path, this one covered with thorny vines. The seeds fared no better there—the thorns choked them, and they died. And so finally the sower scattered his seeds in a patch of good earth. At home in the good earth, the seeds grew and grew. Eventually the seeds bore fruit, and the fruit grew ripe and was harvested. The harvest was immense—30, 60, 100 times what was sown.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I guess the first question we should ask today is whether we want to talk about the sower, the seed, or the ground. If we talk about the sower in Jesus’ parable, maybe we should think about when is the best time and place to sow the seed. Jesus will explain this parable to His disciples later and we will know that the seed represents the gospel, the good news of His message. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. But if we need to think about the time and place for planting seed so that we can expect the best crop, how do we distinguish between the rocks, the vines and thorns, and the good soil? How do we know when and where to share the message to reap the most benefit from it?

The answer is sometimes we don’t, but there are a few things we know about people that give us hints about when we might best share the message of God’s good news. For instance, when someone is angry, they will not listen. When someone is angry, in a fight or flight mood, it’s like arguing with a drunk. They cannot comprehend what you are telling them. Their adrenalin level is so high, nothing will make sense to them and trying to share a message of hope to a person in the middle of an angry outburst is almost impossible. Until their mood softens, they cannot hear the message.

Equally, a person in the middle of some jubilant mood is unlikely to hear the message. It’s interesting to see how Satan blinds us our sinful, depraved, and desperate condition, but when we feel like we are on top of the world because of some good thing that has happened to us, we are not likely to listen to a message of hope that we need a savior. We think we have nothing to lose when in that state of mind. We have nothing to gain when we think we have it all. I think that’s why Jesus talked about the difficulty of the wealthy finding the narrow path that leads to eternal life. Because they think they are self-sufficient in their wealth, they do not listen to the good news of God’s hope for them.

So when can we best reach someone with the message of hope Jesus brings? At those crisis moments of life. Those times at which everything seems to have fallen apart and our world seems to be crashing in around us. We go to the doctor and hear the dreadful news about our or a loved one’s medical condition that will never get better. We discover our life-time security in our job just ended in a layoff as the company downsized. We discover the retirement account we relied out suddenly disappeared as the broker who held our securities went bankrupt. Hope seems gone.

Or we look at our life and discover just how sinful we are in the light of God’s holiness. We hear a message or a song or read a book or scripture that shines God’s light on our life and suddenly we become aware of just how depraved and empty we are without God’s forgiveness and without His Spirit guiding us in our daily activities. We reach the end of our rope and there is still a lot of cliff below us.

Those are the times we will listen to the message of God’s good news. Those are the times we will hang on to the hope He gives and become aware that all is not lost. We will grasp for His hand extended to us in grace and mercy. We will reach for Him to rescue us from the heavy load of despair that tries to crush our spirit. Those are the times we are ripe for the seed of His messengers to share with us the hope all His saints carry with them.

So do you look for people to whom you can share the message? Do you look for those choice spots where seeds planted can multiply 30, 60, 100 fold? Do you recognize those who are at the point of feeling hopeless and reach out to them with God’s message of hope for their lives? From the sower’s perspective, we are missionaries for God. His emissaries to carry His message to a world screaming for some kind of hope. And when we find those individuals ready to receive His message eagerly because they are at the end of their rope, we can and must be ready to share with them the hope we have within us as Peter tells us.

Are you ready to sow some seeds?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

What kind of seed are you? (Matthew 13:1-23), Apr 26, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Matthew 13:1-23
Set – 2 Samuel 1; Matthew 13
Go! – 2 Samuel 1; Psalms 140; Matthew 13

Matthew 13:1-23
¹ That same day, Jesus left the house and went to sit by the sea. ² Large crowds gathered around Him, and He got into a boat on the sea and sat there. The crowd stood on the shore waiting for His teaching.

³ And so Jesus began to teach. On this day, He spoke in parables. Here is His first parable:

Jesus: Once there was a sower who scattered seeds. ⁴ One day he walked in a field scattering seeds as he went. Some seeds fell beside a road, and a flock of birds came and ate all those seeds. ⁵ So the sower scattered seeds in a field, one with shallow soil and strewn with rocks. But the seeds grew quickly amid all the rocks, ⁶ without rooting themselves in the shallow soil. Their roots got tangled up in all the stones. The sun scorched these seeds, and they died. ⁷ And so the sower scattered seeds near a path, this one covered with thorny vines. The seeds fared no better there—the thorns choked them, and they died. ⁸ And so finally the sower scattered his seeds in a patch of good earth. At home in the good earth, the seeds grew and grew. Eventually the seeds bore fruit, and the fruit grew ripe and was harvested. The harvest was immense—30, 60, 100 times what was sown.

⁹ He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Disciples: ¹⁰ Why do You speak to the people in parables?

Jesus: ¹¹ The knowledge of the secrets of heaven has been given to you, but it has not been given to them. ¹² Those who have something will be given more—and they will have abundance. Those who have nothing will lose what they have—they will be destitute. ¹³ I teach in parables so the people may look but not see, listen but not hear or understand. ¹⁴ They are fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy:

You will listen, but you will not understand;
you will look, but you will not see.
¹⁵ The people’s hearts have turned to flab;
their ears are clogged;
their eyes are shut.
They will try to see, but they will not see;
they will try to hear, but they will not hear;
they will try to understand, but they will not comprehend.
If they, with their blindness and deafness, so choose, then I will heal them.
^16-17 Many holy prophets and righteous men and women and people of prayer and doers of good have wanted to see but did not see, and have wanted to hear but did not hear. Your eyes and ears are blessed.

¹⁸ This is what the parable of the sower means. ¹⁹ It is about the kingdom of heaven. When someone hears the story of the Kingdom and cannot understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away whatever goodness and holiness had been sown in the heart. This is like the seeds sown beside the road. ^20-21 You know people who hear the word of God and receive it joyfully—but then, somehow, the word fails to take root in their hearts. It is temporary. As soon as there is trouble for those people, they trip: those people are the seeds strewn on the rocky soil. ²² And you know people who hear the word, but it is choked inside them because they constantly worry and prefer the wealth and pleasures of the world: they prefer drunken dinner parties to prayer, power to piety, and riches to righteousness. Those people are like the seeds sown among thorns. ²³ The people who hear the word and receive it and grow in it—those are like the seeds sown on good soil. They produce a bumper crop, 30 or 60 or 100 times what was sown.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

I’m sure you’ve met each of the types of people described in the parable. The question is which one are you? And the deeper question is can you change if you don’t like the answer to the first question. If you’re one of those who let the evil one snatch away any goodness that has been sown in your heart, there is still hope for you. I can change you if you let Me.

If you are one of those up and down Christians that fail to let My word take root in your heart and you trip and fall as soon as trouble comes, I can help you. If you take pleasure in the world’s riches instead of the riches I can give you through prayer, piety, and righteousness, I can help you. I won’t do all the work, but I can help you.

I want your commitment to follow Me. I want you to love Me more than you love the world. I want you to trust Me with yourself. I want you to follow the path that I lay out in front of you. I promise I will go with you on that journey and I promise you will not be disappointed. The harvest you reap will astound you.

How do you start on that journey? Recognize that you need My help. Ask Me to forgive your past and live in you. Then listen to My voice and do what I ask of you. Don’t worry about tomorrow, just obey My commands for the next few minutes. You can do that. Then when you’ve done that, pledge to commit the next few minutes. Then the next and the next. Live one moment at a time and you’ll make it through the journey with Me. I will never leave you or forsake you. Just follow Me and see what happens.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.