As you may have heard, the theme of our 2023 Retreat was Seeds Alongside The Road, coming from Jesus’ parable of the seeds. ¹ In Part 1 of The Sower, The Seeds, and The Message, I mentioned that the parable was deeper than I once thought. This continues in Jesus’ explanation of the seeds.

Some translations say the seeds are people. Like seeds alongside a road, they do nothing and are destroyed by the evil in this world. Or like seeds in rocky places that have no root, they do not have Jesus, the Root of David. Without the life only He can give, they wither and die.

Like seeds struggling to live among thorns, many are overpowered by the world and ultimately yield to it. But like those seeds scattered on good soil, some will grow, become strong, and bear fruit.

The Sower went out to sow the seed…

All of that sounds logical, except for one thing. Jesus says the sower went out to sow his seed, and what he sowed was the word. ² Not a person. Not people. The sower sowed the word. So maybe we need to take a closer look at the sower’s word.

In English, word is defined as a unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation, that have a particular meaning. Here the Greek logos is used, and while often translated simply as word, it has a broader meaning.

Logos refers to something said, but also specifically includes the thought, reasoning and motive behind what is said. In other words, logos is not merely a word. It’s a message, and in the parable of the seeds, that message is from God.

…To scatter the word across the earth.

Think about that for a moment. The sower sows the seed. The seed carries the word. And the word holds the message. And there’s not just one seed, for the sower scatters many seeds across the earth.

Some people do nothing and ignore the message. Some cannot understand it because they are not rooted in Jesus. Others do not heed the message because they are more a part of the world than apart from it. But some embrace the message, follow the word, and live forever.

Could this also be about our life’s journey? What does the message have to do with us? And what is this message, anyway?

Next week…Part 3 of The Sower, The Seeds, and The Message.

 

Ciloa Forever!

 

Chuck

 

 

Chuck Graham is Founder and Executive Director of Ciloa, an international ministry devoted to encouraging others and teaching them how to encourage one another. He is also an author and speaker. Chuck and his wife, Beverly, live in Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA. Learn more about Chuck and Ciloa at www.Ciloa.org.

 

 

Footnotes: (1) This parable can be found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. I am using the passage in Mark. Read Mark 4:1-20. (2) Read Mark 4:14.

Pictures: Banner:  (1) Sower and Seed, Free Bible Images. (2) Jesus Teaching by the Sea of Galilee, created by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. .