Bread for the Journey

I'm always intrigued with the parables Jesus taught and how their meaning plays out.  The parable of the sower is one that has us think about the condition of the soil of our heart and how it may accept the seed of the Word of God.

Have our difficult experiences hardened us so much that the seed has no chance to germinate? Or maybe we only have a little space, an area of shallow soil among the rocks, to hear what we like to hear, but when trouble comes we lose heart because the seed has not been able to take root.  It could also be that the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of riches choke out the seed in the same way thorns take over a garden. I think we can relate to all of these.

Yet, Jesus does not leave it there. He simply blesses us with a challenge to open our eyes and to pay attention to the warnings. I pray that our hearts may be soft, removing the rocks and weeding out the thorns. May of the busyness and worries of everyday life not keep us from sitting at His feet to quiet our hearts and learn from Him.


Matthew 13:3 - 9 and 16

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.