Botanist Elaine Solowey successfully grew a palm tree from a seed.
Not impressed?
Maybe I should add that the seed she planted was two thousand years old.
During excavations at Masada in the Holy Land, archaeologists found a storage bin of ancient seeds. Though they had been lying around for two millennia, when Solowey planted them, life sprang up!
In one of his most famous parables, Jesus compared his word to the life-giving power of seed. In Matthew 13, he told of a farmer who scattered seed across his fields. Some fell on the hard-packed pathway, some fell on shallow soil, some fell on weed-infested soil, and some fell on good soil.
In Jesus’s parable, only one of the four patches of soil let the seed yield fruit.
The seed was ready to bear fruit on the hard soil, but it would not let the seed in.
The seed was ready to bear fruit on the shallow soil, but it would not let the seed penetrate deeply.
The seed was ready to bear fruit on the weed-infested soil, but it had all kinds of weeds that choked out the good plant.
Only the patch of soil that took the seed readily, deeply, and completely saw the seed come to fruition.
Jesus wanted you to think about how you receive his word. I covered this in more detail in last Sunday’s lesson. Now that we’re at the midpoint of the week, it would be good to ask yourself how receptive you are to God’s word.
What kind of soil is your soul?
Tom
P.S., to reinforce the point of the Parable of the Sower in last week’s sermon, I told you the story of the Santa Claus Bank Robbery. That true crime from 1927 is the subject of my debut novel, The Last Man.
If you want a signed copy of the book, order directly from me at this site (U.S. orders only) or just email me to arrange a pickup in Austin. For other options, I have a list of vendors at my website.
By the way, at my website you’ll find out how to get a free booklet called, “The Santa Claus Bank Robbery in Photos.” It’s a beautifully formatted booklet of photos of the real characters and places behind my novel. Find out how to get your copy of the booklet here.
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