Faith & Love: A One Year Bible Reading Plan - Part 4Sample

Most of the parables of Jesus are like a maze designed to challenge the listeners to work out for themselves how to get to the heart of things.

Sometimes the listeners get stuck; that’s why Jesus provides them with a map. According to this map, the way is by hearing and understanding the word of the Kingdom. Because Jesus loves us, he points out the “dead ends”- the places people usually get stuck.

As we read through this parable, we should ask ourselves: Are we stuck somewhere in our spiritual journey?

But even then, there is always the promise of the seed that really does bear fruit. This takes time and sometimes hard work.

A quick glance at scripture, an occasional sitting in church or a study group and being entertained by some new idea is probably not enough. Care, trust and intentionality need to be put into the task of hearing the word of the Kingdom until it has taken proper root.

Stones may need removing from the soil; thorns may need uprooting. But when hearing brings understanding, we know we are getting close to the goal and finding our way.

The promise then is this: not just that we will, as it were, have succeeded for our own sake, but that we will, in turn, become kingdom-people, bearing fruit in our sphere of community and influence.