The Parable of the Sower is probably one of the most famous. Jesus is using the picture of a farmer sowing seed to explain what kind of people hear the word of God.
I was thinking about this, and thought this can also talk about the kind of Christian a person is.
The first seed lands on the path, and so the seed doesn't last very long as the birds pick at it and eat it - game over. This made me think about different kinds of people in church. The first kind of Christian is just a Sunday Christian, the type of person that isn't different apart from attending church once a week because they have always done it. As soon as they leave the building they put their Sunday best back into the wardrobe and thats pretty much it. They go to work on a Monday and no-one ever knows that they even believe in God let alone follow him! They behave exactly the same as everyone else and so they live in the world Monday to Saturday and on Sunday they do the God stuff.
The second seed falls on shallow ground and so when the seed grows the sun burns down upon it and because the seed has no root, the plant withers and dies.
This kind of Christian wants to live the life, but struggles because of other commitments such as their job or their family. They want to do all the Jesus stuff, but following Jesus is always put further down the list because they have to work or because they have stuff to do on a Sunday such as taking the children to play sports or to visit family - this kind of Christian has their priorities in the wrong order. They have everything else first, Jesus second.
The third seed falls among the weeds, and so the little plants get choked by the weeds that are growing alongside them.
This kind of Christian is really busy with Church. They are doing the stuff, busy for the Lord, but actually they are not putting Jesus into the equation. They want to see people come to know Jesus, but they are so busy doing what needs doing that they forget their own walk with the Lord and eventually they burn out completely!
The last seed is the good seed. It lands on good fertile soil and produces a good harvest and eventually spreads the good news getting a plentiful harvest.
This obviously is the Christian that has the right perspective. This Christian puts Christ first and always relies on God for the things that they need to do. They serve the church, they love one another and they preach the gospel with a passion. Everyone they meet knows that they are Christians and they are respected for what they do and for what they believe.
I know that as Christians there is probably a small part of all of these people in us. I know that sometimes I don't go to Church with the right attitude, I know sometimes I get so busy that I forget the reason I'm doing what I do.
As Christians we MUST be different; we MUST put Jesus first; we MUST not get so busy that we take Jesus out of the equation; We MUST be people that do everything we do to the Glory of God!
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