"Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: 'Behold, a sower went out to sow....He who has ears to hear, let him hear!'" (Matthew 13:3,9)

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THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER

Lesson: Matthew 13:3-9

While the Lord was on earth, He loved to tell people stories. These stories are called "parables." The Lord's parables were not like anyone else's stories. They were special. They were beautiful to listen to, and they taught wonderful lessons.

In the parable of the sower, a sower went out to sow. A sower is a farmer. He plants seeds so vegetables and wheat will grow in the fields. This farmer's seeds were wheat seeds. They did not all fall in good soil. Some seeds fell outside of the field. They landed on a hard road. And the birds ate them before they could grow.

Some fell in a very stony part of the field. The shoots grew quickly. But the sun burnt them, because they were not protected with cool, soft earth.

Some of the seeds fell among thorns and thistles which had not been pulled out of the field. The ugly weeds choked the seeds so they could not grow.

But the seeds that the farmer sowed in the good ground grew. They became fine stalks, which gave good wheat.

The Lord is like a sower. His seeds are the wonderful truths that He tells us in His Word. These things teach us the way to heaven. But not all of the Lord's seeds grow. To grow they must fall in just the right places. They must fall into minds that are ready for truths from the Lord. The Lord makes people's minds. He makes them just right for growing His seeds. And many beautiful and wonderful thoughts have grown up in the minds of men, women and children. These thoughts are like the wheat that the Lord plants.

We must keep our minds clean and ready for new seeds, so that good things can grow there. A farmer must take the thorns and stones out of his fields. He must stop the birds from eating up his seeds. Thorns and stones ruin fields. They are like bad thoughts and unkind deeds that spoil our minds. When we think bad things and plan mischief, we are letting our minds become thorny and stony. If we let bad spirits into our thoughts, they eat up the Lord's seeds. Then the garden of our mind cannot grow.
But we can keep our minds free of selfish, angry and greedy thoughts. Then our mind can become like a good field, beautiful with grain and fruit and flowers - a garden for the Lord.

Amen.

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