(Reminder, this is just a journal of my mistakes, experiences, and thoughts along my journey to having a closer relationship to God. I do not claim to be an authority on the subject. If you want to know The Way, read The Bible.)
This passage, along with Craig Valentine’s insight, is what inspired the Stage Time article I wrote today, “Why Do the Little Things Really Matter?”
The Parable of the Sower – Mark 4:
Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”
9 Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
Whether we are on stage talking about our message or talking about faith, we need to prepare and keep in mind that we need to prepare to plant many seeds. The ideas and perspectives we share will sometimes fall on deaf ears, as well as on ready ears, and often on ears that need to let our ideas percolate before they germinate.
The truth of The Bible astounds me. These simple and brilliant parables are, in fact, universal truths that have stayed relevant for centuries. Some of your audiences will be in a horrible setting, rocky ground. It may be true, though, that there could be one person in that audience who is living in good soil, and our message will be planted and stay with them for years to come. Though we love the applause, we must remember that the rocky ground audiences may need it even more. In the back of my mind, I am wondering whether God gives us the great audiences as a reward that keeps us going. Do you realize you are a sower?
Thank you, God, for Grace, Truth, Love, and Laughter,
Darren
P.S. Thank you, especially, for grace.
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