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33. The Story of the Farmer
One day, Jesus was near the shore of the lake. He was teaching a very large crowd of people. So many people came to hear him that Jesus did not have enough room to speak to them all. So he got into a boat in the water. There he sat and taught the people.
Jesus told this story. "A farmer went out to plant some seed. As he was spreading the seeds by hand, some seeds happened to fall on the path. But birds came and ate all of those seeds."
"Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where there was very little soil. The seeds in the rocky ground sprouted quickly, but their roots were not able to go deep into the soil. When the sun came up and it got hot, the plants withered and died."
"Still other seeds fell among thorn bushes. Those seeds began to grow, but the thorns choked them out. So the plants that grew from the seeds in the thorny ground did not produce any grain."
"Other seeds fell into good soil. These seeds grew up and produced 30, 60, or even 100 times as much grain as the seed that had been planted. Whoever wants to follow God, let him pay attention to what I am saying!"
This story confused the disciples. So Jesus explained, "The seed is the word of God. The path is a person who hears God's word, but does not understand it. Then the devil takes the word away from him. That is, the devil keeps him from understanding it."
"The rocky ground is a person who hears God's word and accepts it with joy. But when he suffers hardships, or when other people make him suffer, he falls away from God. That is, he stops trusting in God."
"The thorny ground is a person who hears God's word. But he begins to worry about many things, and he tries to make a lot of money, and he tries to get many things. After some time, he is not able to love God any longer. So what he learned from God's word does not make him able to please God. He is like wheat stalks that do not produce any grain."
"But the good soil is a person who hears the word of God, believes it, and produces fruit."
A Bible story from: Matthew 13:1-8, 18-23; Mark 4:1-8, 13-20; Luke 8:4-15