Some of you might have noticed that the sower in Mark 4:3-8 sowed his seed indiscriminately. He wasn’t especially keen to make sure that they all fell on good soil, which expectedly, would have yielded him a great crop. It might have been prudent not to waste so many good seed, yet: behold a sower went out to sow, and as he sowed some seed fell along the path, other seed fell on rocky ground, other seed fell among thorns, and other seeds fell into good soil. The sower sows the word, everyone hears, but we know the word will not bear fruit in them all.
Like me, you probably have been too careful with the master’s seeds. Often, I have hoarded my kindness, keen to give it only when I am sure it will be received gladly. Insisting that I won’t lay precious pearls before swine, I have mostly kept the good news to myself, fearing my words would be unwelcomed or deprecated. I hate being insulted, I also dislike feeling as though I have been insulted, so I have stayed mute. At other times, I wasn’t just being fastidious, I also was ashamed of the Gospel, and now the word of God condemns me.
Two lessons:
- As men we do not have the capacity to convict men of their sin. It is wholly the work of the Holy Spirit.
- As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. ( Ecclesiastes 11:5–6 ESV)
Tell of Jesus if you have opportunity, and then pray that the Holy Spirit does his work. Do not be too careful with the good news. The roadside, the rocky-ground, the thistle-ground too deserve the seed. Only God knows from whence the yield will be abundant; that knowledge is not allowed us.