Origin: Matthew 13:1-23 and Mark 4:1-20 in the Bible
Once upon a time, there was a farmer who went out to sow seeds in his field. The farmer had a big bag of seeds, and he walked along, scattering them across the soil.
As he scattered the seeds, some fell along the path, where the ground was hard and packed down. Birds came and ate up those seeds before they could grow.
Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where there wasn’t much soil. The seeds sprouted quickly, but because the soil was shallow, the plants didn’t have strong roots. When the sun came up, it scorched the plants, and they withered away.
Some seeds fell among thorns and weeds. The thorns grew up and choked out the young plants, so they couldn’t grow properly.
But some seeds fell on good soil. The soil was rich and fertile, and the seeds grew into healthy plants. These plants produced a lot of grain—some a hundred times as much as was planted, some sixty, and some thirty.
Later, the farmer explained to his friends what the seeds meant. The seeds represented God’s words, and the different types of soil represented different kinds of people.
The seeds that fell along the path were like people who heard God’s words but didn’t understand them. The birds that ate the seeds represented the evil one taking away the message from their hearts.
The seeds that fell on rocky ground were like people who heard God’s words and received them with joy at first. But because they didn’t have deep roots, they quickly fell away when troubles came.
The seeds that fell among thorns and weeds were like people who heard God’s words, but the worries of life and the deceitfulness of wealth choked them, making them unfruitful.
But the seeds that fell on good soil were like people who heard God’s words, understood them, and let them take root in their hearts. These people bore much fruit and lived lives that pleased God.
And so, children, the story of the farmer and the seeds teaches us the importance of listening to God’s words and letting them take root in our hearts. When we do, we can grow strong and bear fruit that pleases God.