To Be a Witness, a Lifestyle…নমুনা

To witness is to sow, trusting in He who makes it grow

REFLECTIONS:

Read Mark 4:13-29 and take a moment to answer the following questions:

➤The passage talks about multiplication: what are the principles presented to live it?

➤ Why is it so important to understand the parable of the sower (cf. Verse 13)?

By sharing the parable of the sower, Jesus is preparing a turning point in His disciples’ training. In verse 13, He declares the importance of this story, presenting it as the key to understanding all the other parables. Before this period, Jesus exercised His ministry, and the disciples followed and observed. Jesus was getting ready to send His disciples to witness about the kingdom of God (cf. Mark 6:7). This parable is here to teach them about testimony. We are the sowers, and our testimony is the harvest. The first thing to consider is that we need to go out and sow, which implies we must sow intentionally all around us.

This text talks about different soils, which represent the lives of those around us. The sower has prepared the soil. That is what we can deduce from the expression “disciples’ good soil” nonetheless, he then sows without worrying about where the seeds fall; his role is to sow abundantly. In the same way, our prayer life prepares the soil as we pray for the world around us and divine rendezvous. We then have to observe the soils that surround us, staying sensitive to the lives of those around us to sow correctly. However, we are to witness essentially without worrying whether the seeds fall in the right place.

Our responsibility is to sow, and God takes care of the rest. Let’s be attentive not to mix things up. It’s a partnership. We cannot make people believe or lead them to salvation. It’s the Holy Spirit who does it. However, He will not do it if we haven’t sown beforehand. While we witness and share the Gospel around us, we can expect it to produce fruit because God is working.

In Christ, there is no sterility. The harvest has no quality issues. It is made to bear fruit. However, nature teaches us an important fact regarding harvesting; either it is planted, dies and multiplies, or eaten or becomes rotten. Let us not keep what God has done for us because of fear of losing it or not being understood.

On the contrary, let’s share the wonders God does in our lives because that is what will allow it to multiply in the lives of others. When God does something in our lives, it is quite normal to meet someone going through the same situation. It’s not by coincidence. God desires that you witness so He can act in that person’s life.

Elsewhere, verse 27 tells us something important: there is a place for rest in the process of witnessing and harvesting. We don’t need to worry about what has been sown. God is taking care of it, and even if we see nothing, the Holy Spirit is at work to make it grow. So never let yourself be discouraged if you don’t see an immediate result. Trust in the quality of the harvest and in Him who is taking care of it.

When we decide to witness, we don’t do it purely by chance or luck. No skilled sower is going to sow seeds and expect nothing in return. On the contrary, they expect to harvest in abundance. In the same way, as we witness, we expect to see fruit produced, and just as a grain of wheat will produce other grains of wheat, our life of discipleship will produce other disciples. It’s the accomplishment of Jesus’ mission that He has given us (cf. Matthew 28:18-20). The most extraordinary thing is the harvest ratio, a multiplication of thirty, sixty, or even one hundred. Your life of discipleship is called to produce a multitude of disciples in the same way.

MY DECISION:

➤What I have understood for my personal life:

➤ What I am deciding for my life based on what I have just learned:

➤ What you decide today will determine who and what you will be tomorrow!

Adapted from “un disciple en marche” copyright 2018 by Luc Favre, published by Vie Victorieuse. All rights reserved. More on www.vievictorieuse.org