The Sower & The Seed: part 2

As he was scattering seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.... Some people are like seed along the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. (Mark 4: 4 & 15)

When we share God's message with those around us, whether by way of our testimony or by simply inviting them to join us at church on Sunday, we can get discouraged when we do not get a positive response. Every person who has attempted to bring a friend or family member with them to church has had the experience of that person telling them, "Yes, I'll be there," only to have them not show on Sunday. It can be disappointing as you stand in the lobby, waiting for this person, the worship service is starting, and you come to the realization that they are not showing up.

What happened? According to Jesus, the birds got them. (Sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock movie, doesn't it!)

There are several lessons we can pull from this and whether we are seeking to win our friends to Christ, or we are in a teaching position and are tempted to wonder why people are not receiving and applying what God has given us to share, these lessons will help us keep from taking rejection of the message personal.

1) Satan is at work seeking to hinder what God is working to accomplish through us. Our enemy has a twofold purpose. He wants to keep others from receiving our message AND he wants to discourage us from sharing that message with other people.

2) Satan has birds. For example, let's say you invite a co-working to attend worship with you. They go home and tell their spouse of their plans, only to hear, "You're not buying into that religion junk, are you?" There's a bird. Or, they get up Sunday morning and as they are getting ready the phone rings and it's a buddy with a better offer (at least to them) to go play golf. There's another bird. Saturday night they are out with friends for some strange reason stay out later than normal. You guessed it, another bird.

3) Chasing birds is useless. This may be where the enemy wants to lead us... but we are better off to reject this option.

4) The farmer is not at fault. We tend to blame ourselves when this happens... don't! Instead, like the farmer in Jesus' story, keep on sowing your seed. Our responsibility is to sow good seed. Let God take care of the rest.