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One day Jesus taught by the lake-side. Lots of people gathered to hear Him.
The crowd became too large. What would Jesus do?
Seeing a boat nearby, Jesus climbed aboard. Now He could see the people and they could see and hear Him.
Jesus began to tell parables – stories about ordinary things, that taught people about God.
“A farmer scattered seed on his field.” Jesus’s story was like a picture with words instead of drawings.
People could picture the farmer working – they had seen it many times.
Some of the scattered seed lay on a footpath. Swoosh! Birds quickly swooped down to gobble it up.
Some seed landed on stony parts of the field. They quickly grew into spindly puny plants. The hot sun soon shriveled them up because they could not root in the shallow soil.
Other seed had rooted among thorns. It didn’t produce grain. The thorns crowded around the young plants, blocking out the needed sunshine and rain.
The rest of the seed fell on good ground. As time passed, the shoots became healthy plants bearing plenty of new grain. The farmer must have been very happy.
At the end of the story, the disciples came to Jesus. “Why do you teach in parables?” They asked.
Jesus said parables help people understand about God if they really love Him. People who don’t love God cannot understand parables.
Jesus explained the parable. He said the seed is God’s Word. Seed on the footpath is like somebody hearing but not understanding God’s Word.
Satan makes them forget what God said.
Some people quickly receive God’s Word. They are like the seed on stony soil. But as soon as somebody mocks the or makes things difficult because they love God, a sad things happens.
These same people who joyfully started to follow Jesus turn away and stop obeying God’s Word. They didn’t want to pay the price of following God. How sad that they should want to please friends rather than God!
The thorns in the parable are like worldly worries and the love for money that fill some people’s lives. They are so busy trying to get more money and other things that they leave God out of their lives.
But the seed that fell on good soil and gave a good harvest is like the Word of God entering hearts and changing people’s lives. These people serve and honor God.
The crowds did not want to leave. Many wanted to follow God and please Him. Jesus’s parables helped them to understand how to obey God.
This short Bible story is found in Matthew 13
