The Generous Farmer
A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath. . . Other seed fell among the rocks. . . Other seed fell among thorns. . . Still other seed fell on fertile soil. . . This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word. Luke 8: 5a, 11 NLT
One summer during a family vacation we visited the Museum of the Rockies (MOR) at Montana State University. It holds the country's largest collection of North American dinosaur fossils from discoveries made in and around Montana.
As we walked through the rooms filled with T. Rex specimens, and met “Big Al”, one of the most complete Allosaurus ever discovered, we came upon a group of people listening to a gentleman telling a personal story of discovery. He was a local farmer, and one spring as he was inspecting his fields prior to plowing them for spring planting, he noticed something protruding out of the dirt.
Upon closer inspection he realized this was not the usual rock or debris that works its way to the surface each spring. This was a very large bone. The researchers from MOR were called and excavated a dinosaur that had finally worked its way to the surface and shone its face.
Luke 8 tells the story of a farmer who continues to plant seeds even when the soil is hardened from being walked on, filled with rocks, or weedy. This generous farmer is God and the seed He continues to faithfully plant in our lives is the Word of God. The seed is filled with purpose, hope, healing, freedom, encouragement, and growth.
What a loving, bountiful God we serve!
Every one of us, at different times, have issues lurking below the soil in our life. You may even have a dinosaur hidden in a corner of your heart that for years you have safely kept from surfacing. But hardness of heart, rocks, weeds, and even dinosaurs have a way of working their way to the surface and exposing themselves.
Is the soil of your heart ready to receive?
Everyday there is an abundance of opportunities to hear God's Word through sermons, podcasts, devotionals, radio, books, live stream and more. Is the seed wasted in your life?
Is the soil of your heart ready to receive the Word and produce a crop that is a hundred times as much as had been planted! (Luke 8:8 NLT)
Consider the times in your life when the soil may be hard, rocky, or weedy.
Daily come before God asking Him to examine your heart and prepare your soil to receive His Word. When God plants seeds in your life that are able to take root, it is a beautiful process of growth, watering, nourishing, and flourishing.
Father, what a generous God you are. Thank you for the abundance of seed that you sow into my life. I invite you to come and show me the condition of the soil of my heart. I want my heart to be able to receive every Word from you and produce a harvest in my life that is a hundred-fold.
