The parable of the sower
My epiphany
In church today, the topic of the sermon was “The seed, the soil, the sower,” centred around the parable of the sower as narrated in Mark 4:2–8.
While the sermon was going on, I tried to take notes, but instead, I had an epiphany that completely shifted my understanding of the parable.
The moral of the story, as I’ve always heard has been to sow on “good soil.” I’m not here to dispute that — after all, the nature of parables makes them open for interpretation. What I’m here for is to share the epiphany I had.
Things to note
- The Bible talks of a sower — someone who knew what he was doing. So we can’t question his competence. The guy knew how and where to plant.
- The Bible specifically says the seeds “fell”.
- The focus in the parable is on the seeds that “fell”.
The epiphany
The lesson from the parable of the sower in this piece isn’t about finding good soil, but more about the act of sowing itself. We can’t always determine which soil is “good.” The term “good” is pretty vague, and the Bible doesn’t exactly define it either.
It’s like the parable is telling us to get out there and do something without the pressure of perfection — scatter your seeds, take risks, put in the effort — because you don’t know where the good soil is or how much harvest you’ll yield.
The lesson here? Increase your luck surface area. Make those attempts, fail fast, and keep going. Some seeds will fall on good soil, but you won’t know until you try.
It’s also about the journey
The sower moves along a path to rocky ground, to thorns, to good soil (which I assume is his goal). And isn’t that how life works? You go from being inexperienced, to making some progress (amidst the rocks and thorns), and finally, you hit your stride (good soil).
The journey itself is what builds you up. It’s not always about the final achievement, but the process of getting there. The sower started on rough ground, but he didn’t stop — he kept moving, kept sowing, and eventually, he found the good soil.
Enjoy the view. By the way, the art on the t-shirt is custom-made by me 😊
