Matthew 13

by Hamo Thornycroft
Kew Gardens, London

The Parable of the Sower

Over the past decade, I've heard this parable taught in General Confernece by Elders Wirthlin, Anderson, and Scott (to name a few). Today, in Sunday School, we studied it again. I recall several seminary, institute, priesthood, Sunday school, and even primary lessons where I learned about this parable. But today, my perspective changed.

In each of the aforementioned encounters with the parable of the sower, the teacher emphasized the ground.
Wayside = people who hear the word of God but do not understand it
Stony places = people who hear/receive the word of God but do not allow it to take root in them
Thorny places = people who hear the word of God but are distracted by the cares of the world
Good ground = people who hear the word of God, understand it, and do works of righteousness

My new perspective came when I was pondering a question from the study guide: "Why do you think the parable of the sower focuses more on the ground than on the sower or the seed?"

Before contemplating the importance of the "ground," I asked myself the significance of the sower and his seed. A deluge of questions came to mind:
"How much did he pay for the seed? If his goal is to bring forth fruit, why did he waste so many seeds in the bad ground? Did he not know any better (first time sower)? Does he have an infinite supply of seed? If he doesn't mind wasting the seed, does it even have any value?"
(and so on)

When I likened the seed to the word of God and the sower to anyone spreading His word (teachers, missionaries, prophets), I decided the seed does indeed have great value and the fact that it would be freely tossed in ALL places indicates that wherever and whoever we may be, we too are of great value.

For a few more minutes I was lost in thought about how many people I have withheld my seed from because I prejudged the "ground" as too "stoney," too "thorny," or a "wayside." If I truly understand the value of both the "seed" (word of God) and the ground (a child of God), I would be planting my seeds freely with EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE. My conclusion was that this sower is not ignorant--he has an understanding of the value of the word of God and of His children.

Fortunately, my daydreaming stopped and I found my place in the lesson right before I was called upon to read the next section!

MORAL OF THE STORY
1-sow your seeds everywhere
2-if you're going to daydream in class, sit next to someone who pays attention so they can help you find your place when the teacher calls on you!

~Eric