Monday, Oct. 7

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And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears let him hear.”  
- Matthew 13:3-9

As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.  - Luke 8:15

As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”   - Matthew 13:23

Several years ago I went on a spiritual retreat with a few other pastors and friends of mine.  The purpose of the retreat was to pour into pastors who spend most of their time pouring into others.  The retreat was held in the mountains of New Mexico, it was an absolutely gorgeous setting.  On the second night, we were sitting in an outdoor amphitheater for a worship service under the stars, the music was fantastic and it was a beautiful evening.  About 15 minutes or so into the service I found myself overwhelmed by the glory of God.  

It was one of those rare moments when you completely forget where you are because you are so caught up in the moment and the presence of God.  I felt both sorrow and conviction over my sin, and at the same time, great joy at knowing that I was forgiven and loved by God.  I stayed in that place for several more minutes when the service was over, not wanting it to end.  

When I finally caught up with my friends, they were sitting around a fire talking together.  I was excited to talk to them about what we had just experienced.  To my surprise, they were engaged in a heated debate about which of the two worship leaders was better.  I remember thinking to myself, “They missed it!? How could they miss it?”  

The truth is that we all “miss it” from time to time.  None of are 100% tuned in to the Spirit of God 100% of the time.  In fact, years later, I was attending a C.S. Lewis conference with a mentor of mine.  We sat together and listened to some of brightest and best scholars in the world lecture on the finer points of Lewis’ literary and theological impact.  Most of these lectures would later become books that Lewis geeks, like me, would purchase and read.  

During one such lecture, I remember thinking to myself, “I hope this guys is a better writer than he is a speaker, because this is seriously boooooring!”  When we walked out together afterward, my friend and mentor turned to me and said, “Wasn’t that amazing?  Weren’t you so blessed by his insights?”  I was immediately humbled, here was this man who I considered to be brilliant, and he was praising a lecturer that I had just been criticizing and judging in my heart - I missed it!

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus clearly explains that there will always be those whose hearts are too hard, too shallow, or too distracted to really take in the message of His amazing grace.  Most of us tend to think about this in terms of a person who either receives the message of saving grace and becomes a Christian, or not, but this parable is also given to those of us who have placed our trust in Jesus Christ.  We too can become hardened, distracted, or shallow and miss the Word of God. 

There are many layers of meaning for Jesus’ great Parable of the Sower, but I think one of the most important reasons He told this amazing parable is to make sure that we don’t miss it!

Jeff Frazier