I’ve been considering the parable of the sower and the seed from Mark chapter 4.  I know that one must be careful to not over-analyze the parables; they are intended to teach a primary truth, and we can get badly “wrapped around the axle” if we try to make a parable a perfect mirror of everything.

Most people who have been in church a while probably know the basics of the story; the Sower sows seed; some falls by the way side (and is eaten by birds); some falls in stony ground (springs up fast, but dies out); some falls among thorns (gets chocked and has no fruit), and some falls on good ground (brings forth various amount of fruit).

Nevertheless, it recently struck me about the ground on which the seed is sown. The  ground had no say in where it was and what kind of ground it was.  That one ground was “good ground” is no credit to the ground, nor is it a detriment to the ground upon which thorns were growing.

The lesson is that we tend to look at areas in our lives that are fruitful, and look down upon those who are not as fruitful as we are… neglecting, of course, that that person may be overall far more fruitful than we are.  Instead of criticizing the ground with thorns because it did not bear fruit, how about rejoicing that the seed fell there, and new life was begun?

Just a thought.

…they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.