Children’s object lesson: The Parable of the Sower–part 3

SCRIPTURES: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23, Luke 8:4-8, 11-15
OBJECT: a flowerpot, dish garden (etc.) very full of plants

Today we’re still talking about Jesus’ Parable of the Sower. It’s a story about a farmer who sowed his seeds. Some fell on a hard, dry path, while others landed on rocky soil. In both of those situations the seeds died and never became wheat or corn or whatever they were meant to be.

There was a third group of seeds that didn’t do so well. These fell in the middle of weeds. At first they did OK. They sprouted. They grew. But the weeds finally choked the little plants and took over.

I’ve got a pot here with a lot of plants in it. This pot is getting pretty crowded, isn’t it? At some point these plants will stop growing like they should because they won’t be able to get enough sunlight, or because they won’t have room underneath to spread out their roots.

This time in Jesus’ story the problem was not the soil, but the surroundings. So what were the weeds? When Jesus explained the parable to his disciples, he said the weeds were worry, riches and pleasures. Now that sounds strange, doesn’t it? Worries are bad, but riches and pleasures sound pretty good, don’t they? Having lots of money and plenty of fun–how can that keep us from growing in our spirits?

Jesus said the weeds crowded out the plants. The point is that anything–good or bad–that crowds Jesus out of our lives can be enough to keep us from growing as Christians.

Next time we’ll look at the seeds that grew big and strong, and that part of the story will have a happy ending!