Sower

Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow.”

He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.”

Matthew 13:3, 37

Parables were an important part of Jesus’ teaching style and the parable of the sower is His most famous. Through the years, I must have preached this parable dozens of times because it’s the basic outline of how the gospel is presented and how it is received. In all my sermons, I’m the sower but I would concede that there are other evangelists out there that are also planting the seed.

It wasn’t until just recently, as I was researching titles of Christ, that I realized that the Lord taught that He is the Sower. That really opened my eyes. If He is the sower, had I been usurping the Savior’s place all this time?

The bottom line of a long thought process was, no, I hadn’t taken anything that wasn’t given me. The gospel message is Christ’s and He came to this world to spread this word. Some people’s hearts are so hard, nothing gets in. With others, sometimes it’s difficulties and other times, it’s worldly wealth that keeps the message from taking root. When God uses people and circumstances to prepare the heart; then, the gospel seed can germinate in the human soul and develop into a fruitful life.

This is one of the few titles that I can actually share with the Master. It’s always exciting to come across these because it is evidence that I’m being conformed to the image of the Son. I can teach what Jesus taught but the miracle of new life and spiritual development is still God’s to perform.

Sowing the seed of God’s grace to the world makes someone a channel of Christ’s love to others. It’s a great and noble calling to be a Sower just like the Son of Man.