Some thoughts on planting seeds...

I am continuing some thoughts from the Ravi Zacharias talk at the Chapel Service at Houghton College.

When we share our faith with people, most of us (myself included) aren’t good enough to convince someone that Christianity is the only way based on logic and sound argument. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t use logic and sound argument, because while we might not convince someone based on these arguments, we may clear away obsticles that a person has concerning faith, and as we work to remove these obsticles, God can do the rest.

In Matthew 13 we read what is commonly called the parable of the sower. In this parable, a farmer is scattering his seed. Some fell on the path, and the birds came and quickly ate it. Some of the seed fell on rocky places, where it didn’t have much soil. It grew, but withered when the sun came out strong, because it didn’t have deep roots. Some seed fell among the thorns. This seed also grew, but the thorns quickly choked out the young plants. And some seed fell on good soil, where it produced a great crop – as much as a hundred times what was sown.

Jesus explains this parable as having to do with people hearing the Gospel message. The evil one is the bird that comes down and snatches the word from some who hear it. Others hear and begin a faith, but the cares of the world overwhelm them and they fall away.

One way to think about our role in sharing our faith is to realize that a big portion of our task is simply to prepare the soil. Sometimes we have to break up some hard packed ground, sometimes we pick out rocks, sometimes we pull thorny weeds. We have to prepare people to hear the message much as we would prepare a garden for our seed.

Share when they are ready, and only what they are ready to hear at the time, and the seeds you plant will grow and the people you share your faith with will produce abundant fruit.