5 lessons for those who want to see success – from a farmer who knows.

A familiar story perhaps but which still holds great lessons for those who desire success with the message that they carry. In the story, the farmer is Jesus and also us. The seed the farmer sows is the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ.

“Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.” (Matthew 13 v 3-9)

• Expectancy. The farmer is carrying seed, the life-form, small yet powerful, he will receive a harvest, this is why he is sowing, there is expectation and desire. Believe in the seed in your hand. Have confidence in your message.
• Whoever. The farmer scatters indiscriminately. Not in neat rows. The strategy is to throw the seed not to first think where it is going. There doesn’t seem to be much mapping of the area going on: paths, shallow soil, thorns and weeds, good soil, they all got the seed. A committee would have highlighted where not to throw the seed and that is where the farmer threw it.
• Extravagance. The farmer seems wasteful of the seed. He seems to have more seed than he needs; there is an abundance of seed. He hasn’t counted it out. It is a picture of a farmer’s hand sowing liberally and almost carelessly.
• Persistent. The farmer isn’t perturbed by the failure of the seed to grow or by the birds, the sun or the thorns that act as enemies against the growth of the seed. Everywhere gets the seed. There is no failure in the scattering.
• Celebrate. The farmer yields a harvest. Sometimes it is 30%, 60% and even 100% of what is sown. They are all called a crop. There is no disappointment in the size of the crop.