Today, we’ll be discussing the meaning of the Parable of the Sower.
Have you ever felt like you’re watching other people receive their promises from God, and you’re just stuck in this cycle of well, not receiving?
Today, we are on Day 7 of my Bible Study Healing the Father Wound. and I am referencing Mark 4:1-20 using the NKJV
Parable of the Sower Meaning: What is the Sower Sowing?
In Mark 4:14 it says the sower sows the Word.
So we see in this entire parable, Jesus is talking about the Word of God.
The #1 thing that could be stealing the Word is Satan Himself.
In verse 4, Jesus talks about the seed sown by the wayside.
And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.
And in verse 15 Jesus explains what it is that devours the Word in our lives.
And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.
How does Satan steal that Word?
The biggest way Satan steals the Word is through lies.
John 8:44 says,
When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
His first plan of action is to keep you from believing in Christ at all.
But if he can’t do that, he will continue to try and deceive you out of walking in the things God has for you.
Some of the ways Satan can lie to you is through:
telling you that you’re not good enough for God,
or that the word is for other people, but not for you.
He’ll tell you that God will not fulfill His Word to you, actually telling you that God is the liar.
Have you ever had that happen, where you hear a promise, and you have this thought come in your mind, “Yeah, but that’s not for you.”
For Every lie that Satan feeds you, there is a truth in the Word of God to combat it with.
For example, if he brings lies to your mind that you’re not good enough, the truth is:
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
And anywhere satan brings lies that say God wont’ do what He says,
Numbers 23:19 says
“God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
#2 Trouble or persecution
We see in the next part of the parable of the sower, that the meaning of one thing that steals the seed is trouble or persecution.
Mark 4: 5-6 talks about the seed that fell on stony ground.
Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.
And in verses 16-17 Jesus explains what the stony ground is:
These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.
We can accept Christ, believe in Him, but then when something happens that we don’t understand, or we are persecuted in any way, we can fall away.
Jesus also tells us how to overcome this:
He says, they have no root.
To grow roots, we make a quality decision to continue to grow by reading the Word and applying it to our lives, and when trouble or persecution comes we run to the Lord instead of from Him, letting Him carry us through the hard times, even when we don’t’ understand.
This is where we rely on the promises of God and choose to walk by faith, and not by sight. ( see 2 Corinthians 5:7)
# 3 Worries of this life
The next few things we see in the Parable of the sower is the meaning of the thorns.
In Mark 4: 7 Jesus talks about the thorns.
And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
Then in Mark 18-19 Jesus tells us what the thorns are:
Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
The worries of this life can draw us away from the Word, and from our promises. There are times we can become so consumed by what’s going on around us, the emotions, the difficulties, that we have a hard time trusting.
So worry keeps us up at night.
Worry becomes what we think about.
Worry becomes why we do things.
Worry is a thorn that chokes the Word of God.
So when you are worried about something:
Go to the word of God
Let the Word of God guide you,
guide your decisions,
and give you wisdom so that you are not led by Worry, but by the Word.
#4 Deceitfulness of Riches
The deceitfulness of Riches is also a thorn that will choke the word.
Like worry, if we let getting riches consume us, guide us and become the reason we do things, it too, can derail us off the path and choke the Word from becoming fruitful in our lives.
#5 The desire for other things
If we’re not careful, we can let the desire for other things consume us so that we lose sight of the Word, no longer putting the word first in our lives.
But Jesus tells us how to Be Good soil for the Word:
In the next part of the parable of the Sower, Jesus tells us the meaning of being good soil for the Word.
Mark 4: 8 says But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
And mark 4:20 tells us how we can be good ground for the Word.
But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
When we hear the Word, accept it and apply it our lives, we become good ground for the Word.
Seeds Don’t Grow Overnight
Now remember, When the farmer plants a seed, it doesn’t come up overnight, it takes time to grow.
You may not see changes overnight when you start putting the Word first and applying what you learn from it to your life.
Galatians 6:9 says
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
The parable of the Sower in Summary
Through this parable, Jesus is telling us how to become good ground for the Word, so that it becomes fruitful in us, and in our lives.
Some things we can do are:
Fight off the devil’s lies with the truth of God’s Word
Become rooted in God’s Word by reading it on a regular basis and applying it to our lives,
Walk by faith and not by sight when things get hard.
Not let the thorns of worry, the deceitfulness of riches or the desire for other things come before our love of God or the Word.
And in doing so, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
