Truth in the Dirt: The Parable of the Sowerናሙና

There’s a grocery store near my house where, on a regular basis in the parking lot, I see pedestrians nearly getting run over, lots of horns honking, crude hand gestures, and fights nearly breaking out— all from people who are trying to get a handicap parking spot. It’s really wild to watch decency and kindness go out the door when it comes to getting those spots. Some of the most aggressive people are (normally) sweet senior citizens who turn into wild-eyed warriors when it comes to getting a parking spot close to the store.

We humans can get pretty prickly when it comes to getting something we need.

In today’s passage, Jesus talks about truth sown in the thorns. The thorns are where things of lesser importance choke out what is of highest importance. If we aren’t careful, our concerns about getting our needs met can cause us to be distracted from what is true and right and good.

When Jesus spent time fasting in the wilderness, he faced his own temptation from Satan to compromise for lesser things. But he said: “Man shall not live by bread alone.” (Matthew 4:4). Essentially, Jesus is saying: There are things that are more important in life than getting our needs met.

We all have needs and there's nothing wrong with us for having needs. In fact, God made us with three specific needs:

1. Security- we want physical, emotional, and financial safety
2. Connection- we want to have relationships where we feel seen, heard, and known
3. Empowerment/Control- we want freedom to make choices and have some control in our lives

In the Garden of Eden, we lived with all those needs met in God’s love. But sin separated us from the perfect source of those needs. Fortunately, Jesus restored our relationship to that perfect source of love. He says that now, if we seek his Kingdom first, God will meet those needs for us. (Matthew 6:33)

But, it’s really easy to get distracted seeking our basic needs over the Kingdom of God (what he prioritizes), especially if we felt a lack in one of those areas in the past. Truth can easily be thrown aside as we go after getting our needs met. When we get too focused on security and protecting ourselves from harm, or seeking the approval and acceptance of others (connection), or a desire to control everything, we can quickly lose sight of the bigger picture. But seeking God first is the only true path to fulfillment of what we need.

Jesus also talked about how the deceitfulness of riches — which offers a false promise of security, connection, and control— can distract us.

An old cowboy once told me, “The only difference between the rich and the poor is, the rich get a longer rope to hang themselves with.” We all have the same problems, but wealth can buffer us from much of the suffering that comes with those problems. If you drive an older car and it breaks down, it can be a real struggle to find the money to fix it and find rides in the meantime. But if you have money, those kinds of problems are easily taken care of (or never even happen).

Wealth can buffer us from suffering. But, as we talked about yesterday, suffering and challenge is what God tends to use to make us more into his image. Which, incidentally, might be part of why Jesus said it’s hard for those with wealth to enter the kingdom (Matthew 19:23) — wealth can keep suffering at bay. Seeking money to meet our needs can distract us from truth.

Only God's love offers the perfect security, connection, and empowerment we are seeking.

Today, I encourage you to ask yourself which of those three basic needs is a sensitive issue for you: security, connection, empowerment/control. Which one of those would you be tempted to get so focused on that you miss out on truth God might have for you?

May we be those who seek God’s kingdom as the only source of true security, connection, and empowerment.