The Sower

"Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into the good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold."


When the owner of the field hires the sower, he hires him for one duty: to sow.

The sower is not held responsible for how the seeds grow; he must ensure that all the seeds are planted, are given the chance to grow. If the sower returns to his employer with a half-full bag, excusing his dereliction of duty due to bad soil or overgrown fields, he will be fired. The employer hires him to sow, not to commentate on the state of the fields.

Perhaps the thorns covering the soil are actually loose weeds that will be removed by the next workers in the field. Perhaps the soil that seems perfect is actually hiding a layer of rocks, simply waiting for the next rainstorm to be uncovered. The sower doesn't know these things; he is simply responsible to sow.

"And he said, 'The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how."  - Mark 4.3-8, 26-27