“…He [Jesus] got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore” (Matthew 13:2).
- Moving from homes, to the sea shore then into a boat, Jesus leads His followers away from the familiar into the frontier.
- Jesus deeply desires that we see clearly God’s Kingdom and live in it more wholeheartedly.
“And He [Jesus’] spoke to them [the crowd; His followers] at length in parables, saying: ‘A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold’” (vv.3-8).
- It doesn’t matter to the Sower that much of the seed will wasted. God does not want to leave even the most remotest place unseeded with His Word;
- What are the places in my own life that are most remote to the influence of God’s Word?
- The Word sown by Jesus is not merely a word about God’s Kingdom; it is in fact already the whole of God’s Kingdom in seed form. Jesus seeks good soil – receptive listeners – for God’s Kingdom to be fruitful, for His Church to flourish.
- It remains our task to allow Christ Jesus to expand His reign over me so to bring forth fruit that will endure