Those who cannot hear the gospel at a deep lever cannot join the family of Jesus. They simply don’t understand what it means to belong to him.

II. The Process of Receiving

In Jesus’ parable, some seed fell on the path and could not germinate. Other seeds fell on areas that were rocky and without much soil. Those seeds were barely able to germinate and start the life process, but they could not continue. They sprang up okay, but did not have the strength to thrive. As Jesus put it, “But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and the withered because they had no root.”

We need not look far to see people everywhere who seem, in the most literal ways, rootless. Nothing seems to give them moral roots. They will do anything because they do not know better, or they do not care. Jesus likened them to anyone who “hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it.” There is potential there but nothing to keep it going.

Some of the farmer’s seeds also landed in areas infested with thorns. They germinated and even grew for a while, but the thorns grew even faster and choked the plants.

Today we understand being choked by distractions. We are overloaded and distracted, having difficulty concentrating on anything for very long. A recent study points out that the average office worker gets 220 messages a day. That includes e-mails, memos, phone calls, interruptions and ads. A survey of managers on four continents found an alarming statistic: one-third of managers suffer problems of ill health due to information overload. Among senior managers, the figure rises to 43 percent![2]

No wonder we can’t concentrate or put good plans into action.

III. The Promise of Reaping

Even with all the problems of seeds going awry, the farmer keeps sowing because he knows that some of it will land where it is intended. It lands on “good soil where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Yes, some will be choked by weeds or devoured by birds, but the experienced farmer knows to keep throwing seeds because some of it will produce well and make up for everything lost. He is the one who hears, understands and puts into practice the truth of the gospel. There is an old hymn that says, “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.” One verse says, “The world behind me, the cross before me, No turning back, no turning back.” We put the world behind us and the cross in front of us and move toward that. In that way we become the “good soil” that produces a bountiful crop for God. We become members of the family.

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[1] “Dilbert,” by Scott Adams. Published 2/3/08.

[2] Kevin Miller, “Managing Chaos,” in Christian Management Report (June 2006), p. 9.