March 10, 2025

I have a sculpture of a sower on my desk (thanks Duane for letting me borrow it).  This has been out front in the sanctuary for several weeks now.  The sower is active, one hand in the seed bag, the other dispersing seed.  Three of the four soils almost seem opposed and ready to mock the effort.  The fourth soil is prepared, ready for the seed to land.  It is plowed and ready to take seed in; barren until God's Word arrives to bring life to that soil.  

We must be about sowing.   We must be about sharing God's Word with an empty people (no seed growing = lifeless).  Every believer has seen the futility of seed landing in bad soil.  They may have felt pain in that effort.  For some, they stop.  They give up.  They fail to remember that there are others.  There are some that will be ready to receive that seed and they are waiting - empty, barren, lifeless - until we sow.  As Romans 10:14 says, "And how are they to grow and bear fruit without someone sowing?" (Yes, I slightly modified that verse).  Verse 17 says, "faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."   They cannot hear without receiving the word of Christ.  So, share it.  

I am also struck by the sculpture's birds that are stealing seed from the path.  It was in the summer of 1992 this happened to me, a cynical, hard soil that God had sent some gardeners to work.  I asked a friend to tell me about Jesus.  No, this had not come out of the blue.  He, and other friends, had been, in a graceful and salty way, sharing God's Word with me.  He clearly explained the gospel to me and gave me a little red book (2"x1" in size) with salvation verses inside.  I read through it that night.  I put it in my shirt pocket (white, dress shirt).  The next morning, as a college-age kid home for the summer, I woke up concerned, thinking, "What if mom washed my clothes?"  I had not taken that booklet out of my pocket.  I hurried into the laundry room to find her shaking out the shirt with red blotches all over it asking me, "Kenny, what was in this shirt?"  I can't help but thinking now... "it was seed that had been stolen by the enemy."  

Thankfully, although Satan "comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  [Jesus] came that [we] may have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10).   It was on August 2nd that year that the soil was finally prepared, I heard the gospel clearly again, and it took root.  What if my friend had given up on me?

Who was your sower?   Certainly God is the Great Sower.  But, who personally shared God's Word with you?  Have you thanked those who were instrumental in your early walk?   Do so if you can - and today, once again, give thanks to God who was willing to tend to your heart so that it was ready for the seed to settle in, germinate, grow, and take root.  

Last month, looking at the Great Commission brought to mind the importance of obeying everything Jesus said.  Of course, to do this, we must know what He said.  Oh, the importance of daily reading your Bible.  Know what you’ve been commanded.   Then, obey.  Which means we also obey even the hard stuff.  

You might be thinking, “I can't!  It would be impossible to obey everything Jesus commanded.”   I agree.  In our humanity, in this flesh that still needs to put of the “old man,” it is impossible.  Yet, Jesus said to the disciples about entering the kingdom of God, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27).  If we are committed to obeying Jesus, we must depend upon God to do so.  How do you begin?  Study God’s Word to learn those commands given to you and begin to do them.   Let God handle the impossibility of it.  Obey and be the church!