“Jesus said, ‘Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times'” (Mark 4:3-8).

Songwriters have used it. Thinkers have used it. Investors have used it. You probably have used it yourself. Even Jesus Christ used it. Used what? They used the picture of planting seeds to make a point. Jesus told a story about planting seeds. Recorded for us in Mark 4:3-8, this simple story speaks volumes for our lives.

Jesus teaches us that seeds are being planted in hearts at worship services each Sunday. That’s also what is happening in a children’s Sunday school lesson – seeds are being planted in their hearts. That’s what is happening when you learn what the Bible teaches – seeds are being planted in your own heart. They are being planted by God through his Word.

Seeds need time to grow. In springtime when gardens are first planted, there’s not much to see. Yet, as every gardener knows, when it comes to seeds, it takes time. As sunlight warms the moist earth where seeds are imbedded, seeds take time to sprout and grow.

Sometimes a person checks out a church one Sunday and decides not to go back. But that’s not much time to let the seeds sown that Sunday grow, is it? Sometimes people are glad to attend a particular Bible class or workshop at a church. But when it is done, they lose interest. In a way, they are like a child who excitedly plants a seed in a foam cup and waters it regularly. But a couple of days later the child forgets about it, and the seed dries up. Sometimes a person goes to worship regularly so that the seeds of God’s Word start to grow, but then he lets the cares of life grow up like thorns. They crowd out time for the Word, and so the planting of faith in his soul gets the life choked out of it.

But sometimes an amazing thing happens. The person keeps coming back to hear the Word. And the seeds grow. And keep growing. The plant of faith is made strong by God’s complete forgiveness won by Jesus. It flourishes under God’s unconditional love given in Jesus and is made resilient by heaven’s guarantee paid for by Jesus.

Maybe that person is you.