The Sower of the World
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The Parable of the Sower
Jesus said to them, “Listen! Imagine a Sower going out to sow. Now it happened that, as he sowed, some of the seed fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground where it found little soil and sprang up straightaway, because there was no depth of earth; and when the sun came up it was scorched and, not having any roots, it withered away. Some seed fell into thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no crop. And some seeds fell into rich soil and, growing tall and strong, produced crop; and yielded thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold. Listen, anyone who has ears to hear!'
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Are you doing what you should with your life?
If we want our lives to produce the right fruit, then keep in mind that our soul is the soil, and the Word of God is the seed.
Each day we need the Sower, God to plant his seed, His Word in the soil of our soul. Then we need to tend that seed and nurture it as it grows. God plants the seed, and we nurture it by daily meditation, that is by prayerfully reading Scripture and praying the Rosary.
On the days in which we skip meditation on the Word of God, then there is no seed, and all we have is dirt.
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The wisdom of the world would tell us that if we want to be productive then we should:
a. Have a strategic planning session
b. Figure out your metrics
c. Then get busy and take massive action.
Well, I’ve made all kinds of plans and took massive action only to find I was doing my will and not God’s will.
How did I know I wasn’t bearing the fruit God wanted?
One of two things happened. I was successful and bored; or overwhelmed, exhausted and sick. And that is when the great temptation sets in to veg out in front of our screens and binge watch tik-tok or You tube or Netflix
Veg out is an interesting term – it means you’re brain dead. That really means your soul is dead.
If Satan can keep us in two places, then he wins: busy and then distracted. Vacillating back and forth.
Do you ever find yourself in the cycle vacillating between being over-busy, overbooked and overwhelmed and then vegging for hours on end?
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So, how do we know if we are doing what God wants or just what we want?
We begin with a listening heart. That is the Good Soil!
We begin each and every day going to God in the silence of our heart and ask Him, “Lord what do you want to do in my life? And how do you want me to respond?” Then give God enough space and time inspire you, to reveal His will to you. Spend time listening, paying attention to whatever he inspires. Then we have a much better chance of bearing the fruit God wants.
Do you go to prayer with your plan already set or do you go with a listening heart, seeking the will of God and his plan for your life?
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Practically, how do we nurture the Seed of the Word of God in prayer?
Read or listen to the Word of God in Scripture, some book of meditation or through this Rosary Podcast. When some idea captures your attention, think about it.
That is the most important part and the hardest part. It takes a lot of energy and attention to think. But we must think. That’s why we need coffee. We must think about what God is saying to us and what He is doing in our lives.
And why do we need to think about it? Because we need to make a decision to do what God is inspiring within us. And then we take action by doing what He told us. That is the resolution.
Do you see the order: our soul is the dirt; we need to take time to receive the Seed, the Word of God in meditation and then give it time to germinate and grow by thinking and reflecting on the word of God.
The Seed, or the Word bears fruit when we put it into practice through our resolutions flowing from our meditation. Then our lives will bear the right fruit!