An Appointment with Christ: The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1) Part 5

My beloved brothers, may the Lord continue to bless you. In this session we are going to continue talking about the Parable of the sower, which, as we know very well, is found in the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, Chapter 13. For those radio listeners who are tuning in for the first time and who have not been Following with us this series of teachings, we are studying this parable of the sower and we seek through it to make a comparison of the different types of people who receive and listen to the Gospel and their different ways of reacting to the seed of the word of God.

We have talked about the person who is like the seed that is thrown along the road, who does not receive the word attentively, does not give it the necessary importance, but is a superficial listener, he simply forgets the word, the devil comes and easily snatches the teaching from his mind. And that person continues in his life of perdition because he did not listen carefully, giving the proper importance to the word of God.

We also talk about the seed that falls on the stony ground. This refers to the type of people who many times react with enthusiasm, because the Lord says that since that seed did not have depth, it sprouts easily, that is to say, there is not a deep process of growth, and stopped as it has to be done, but these people they bear fruit apparently quickly, they have a lot of enthusiasm at first. They get involved in the things of the Gospel, perhaps they last a few weeks or months but when the test comes, the affliction comes that the Lord compares to the sun that shines with force and intensity on the seed and burns it. When trials come, these people did not have a deep root, they did not have a conviction, they had not gone through a process of internal reflection that led them to wonder why I truly serve God, they did not make a powerful, firm, forceful decision sure, but they entered the Gospel believing that the Gospel is something easy, that it is a bed of roses that brings us only profit and enjoyment, that it is a spiritual picnic so to speak, but when trials come and difficulties come these people He realizes that things are not so easy and then they get discouraged, discouraged, lose interest, and since there was no conviction, very soon we see them disappear, never to be seen again in the ways of the Lord.

And we took time in the last meditation to talk about trials in the ways of God and I think we were quite clear in saying that many times in the things of the Gospel, in the life of the believer, situations of trial and of difficulty, troubles are going to come and far from this suggesting the infidelity of God or the falsehood of the promises of the Gospel, quite the contrary, many times it is an indication that God is working in our lives. Because many times God will use tests to purify us, to strengthen us, to test us like gold as we said in order to bring out the most beautiful aspects that are hidden and buried and hindered within our being. Many times the tests bring out in the individual the most beautiful features that they did not even imagine were within them. Such is the human soul. And God sometimes has to allow discipline to come, trials to bless us and to strengthen us, but if we are not prepared to understand that this is part of God's rare blessing in our lives, let's step out, as we say. out there, and turn away from the Gospel and forget about that wonderful blessing that God has prepared for us, if we are faithful.

Unfortunately, many people believe that entering the Gospel is saying goodbye to problems, and that is far from the truth. Problems that come from God or that God allows into our lives are blessings in disguise. If we receive them with obedience, with humility, with patience, with faith, we will come out of them blessed, strengthened, purified, stronger than ever and then we will enter into the beautiful blessings that God has destined for those who believe in Him. So let us not be like The seed that falls on stony ground is burned by the sun and because it has no root, it dries up quickly.

There is a third type of seed that says that part of the seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew and choked it. And the Lord gives his own explanation about this and He says that the one who was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word but the care of this age and the deceitfulness of riches drown the word and it becomes fruitless. In other words, there are people that when they hear the word it is like a seed that is sown in a place where there is a lot of scrub, many harmful bushes that do not bear fruit, they are destructive for the seed. They eat the nutrients that should go to the seed and what they give are harmful, destructive things like thorns, which sink, which do damage and do not bear any fruit, rather it is a plant that has no type of value or productivity nor useful.

There are people who are precisely like that and the Lord says that these are people who generate the worries when they receive the word, the worries of life eat up and kill the seed and do not allow it to bear fruit. What did the Lord mean by this? There are people who love the world so much, are so busy, are so involved in the interests and struggles and ambitions of the world, and in the projects of life that they consider that the Gospel and the things of the spirit and the things that they have to do with the eternal, they are vain mysticisms that are only for idle and superficial people who have nothing to do.

For them the Gospel is for old and decrepit and poor people who do not have great things to fight for, who are not fighters, who are not winners. Unfortunately this is a lie from the devil that only leads to the downfall of those who receive it. The Bible actually speaks of a man, the Lord Jesus Christ related a parable of a very materialistic man with a lot of money who came one day when his barns were so full of product, of wheat, that not knowing what to do, he asked himself: Well Now what do I do with all this product, I no longer have anywhere to put it. Then he said: Oh! I already know what I'm going to do. I am going to tear down these barns that are already too small for me and I am going to make bigger barns to fit more wheat, more product and the word says that that same night they came to this rich person but that he did not care about spiritual things but only things materials and said to him: Fool, this very night they are coming to ask you for your soul, that is, you are going to die and everything you accumulated, to whom will you leave it?

It is a sad image of so many people who spend their lives trying to make their world here on earth care extremely about their profession, about making money, about succeeding as they superficially understand the concept of success, their eagerness and their interest and affection is all circumscribed and limited to the affairs of this world. That is why the Lord speaks of the worries of this century, that is, the issues of this time, of this era, of this system, that is the only thing that concerns them. A busy person is a obfuscated person, is a person who is excessively focused on one thing. You see that there are people like that.

I remember recently I was talking to an ambitious young man who wanted to make a lot of money and this young man looked troubled and anxious and while I was preaching to him about the importance of seeking the things of God, his eyes would go from side to side. another in an almost compulsive and desperate way and he said, while looking the other way, he said I don't have time to go to church, I don't have time to worry about the things of God because I have to work too much, there is a lot of money to do out there, I have so many projects on my mind that I don't have time to take a moment to go to church. And this young man was seen to be unhappy and nervous and anxious and lonely. And I feel sorry because there are so many people in this world that perhaps not in such an extreme way but certainly consider that the things of matter are much more important than the things of God and God wants the opposite, that we pay our attention in things of the spirit. Hopefully you will not be like that type of person and I will continue to talk about this in our next session because we are running out of time. May the Lord bless you.