Poverty in rural areas is not only the result of a bad harvest or a failing market. It often springs from some place deeper than meets the eye.
Faith and farming are deeply connected. Both require patience, humility, and reliance on forces beyond our control. As followers of Christ, we are called to sow God’s Word generously and intentionally, trusting that He will bring about the growth.
In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus speaks of scattering seed—God’s Word—on all types of soil. While the message is deeply personal, it’s also communal. The seed of the Kingdom is meant to shape more than individual hearts; it’s meant to shape how we live together.
Regardless of culture or language, harvest is a joyful season. It showcases months of work, prayer, and patience. In rural areas, harvest represents the reward for labour through full granaries, shared meals, and joyous moments.
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The first seed falls on the path—hard, compacted, and exposed in the Parable of the Sower. The birds swiftly eat it up before it can take root. Jesus explains that this represents the person who hears the Word but doesn’t grasp it, and the evil one snatches it away…
In our world, change is constant, and uncertainty is inevitable, making spiritual stability seem almost unattainable. However, God’s Word invites us to go deeper—by being rooted in Christ rather than in our circumstances.
To be grounded involves more than merely hearing the truth. It entails being established—firmly anchored, deeply rooted, and capable of weathering life’s storms. In the Christian journey, grounding arises from living out the Word of God, rather than merely being familiar with it. As Paul notes in Colossians 2:7(AMP), we must be “rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith.” In rural areas, we grasp the value of deep roots. A tree that fails to dig deep into the soil cannot withstand fierce winds or drought. Similarly, a believer who engages with the Word superficially won’t endure when faced with trials. Being grounded signifies enduring spiritual strength over time.
When Jesus explained the parable of the sower, He described the good soil as producing a harvest – thirty, sixty, even a hundred times what was sown Matthew 13:8, 23 (AMP). This image of abundance isn’t about wealth or worldly success; rather, it concerns spiritual fruitfulness—the visible outcome of a life grounded in God’s Word. But what does it mean to be spiritually fruitful? And how can we recognise this growth in our lives or in the communities we serve?
It is a known fact that every seasoned farmer knows he can’t control the weather or guarantee a harvest. He however knows that the end result of his labours will be determined by the type of soil. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus describes a farmer scattering seed across four types of soil. Though the seed God’s Word—never changes, the results depend entirely on the soil it lands on. This vivid picture speaks not just to individuals, but to whole communities. In Matthew 13:1-9 AMP, the kind of fruit we bear—spiritually and socially—depends on the type of soil we are are.
Every farmer knows that good seed is essential for a good harvest. However, in Jesus’ parable of the sower, the most astonishing truth is this: the seed never changes. It is the same seed scattered on every type of soil. What varies is not the seed, but the ground it falls upon. “The seed is the word of God,” Jesus says in Luke 8:11(AMP). That unchanging, living, and powerful Word is good and exceptional for every soil it touches.
