The Parable of the Sower

When Christ started using parables, his diciples were confused because they were hard to understand.

After telling the parable of the sower, they ask him why he has started using parables. Christ responds in Matthew 13:11-16.

11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the amysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

12 aFor whosoever hath, to him shall be bgiven, and he shall have more cabundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall ahear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

15 For this people’s aheart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their beyes they have cclosed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should dheal them.

16 But blessed are your aeyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

He uses parables to teach because only those who are looking for truths will find them in what he says. Those looking to quote him and say it's wrong, or who just aren't looking for the truth, will just hear a story and its surface meaning.

So the parable of the sower that he tells the crowd is this: (Matthew 13:3-8)

3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

5 Some fell upon astony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7 And some fell among athorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

8 But other fell into good ground, and abrought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

So as the sower is tossing his seeds, some fall onto a path, of which the dirt is very packed and hard so the seeds cannot go into the dirt. Then birds come and eat them so they do not grow.
And some fall in stony places. There is some dirt, so they grow quickly. But there is not enough for the plants to have deep roots, so when the sun comes up, they dry up and die.
The seeds that fall by thorny plants grow, but the other plants keep sunlight and water getting to them. So they are choked and die.
But the seeds than fall onto good ground grow big and healthy. They produce lots of fruit.

If you're not really looking for any gospel truths, all you would learn from that parable would be to plant your seeds in good ground.

But if you are looking for truth, there are several lessons you could learn, a few ways you can interpret the story.
But when the disciples ask what the parable means, this is what Christ answers (in Matthew 13:18-23):

18 ¶ aHear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and aunderstandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and bcatcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

20 But he that received the seed into astony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when atribulation or bpersecution ariseth because of the word, by and by che is offended.

22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this aworld, and the bdeceitfulness of criches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that aheareth the word, and bunderstandeth it; which also beareth cfruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

So the Sower is Christ, and the seeds are his word. The different grounds could be seen as our hearts.
The wayside would be those who are hard-hearted, and do not wish to know of the gospel, or do not understand it. The birds would be Satan. He comes and takes away anything that might have been sowed in their hearts.
The stony places would be the hearts of those who get excited about the gospel, and grow in it quickly. But the sun is tribulation and persectution. When they are faced with those, they die in the church.
The thorny ground would be those of the world. The thorny plants would be worldly things. The seed is planted, and their testimony grows. But then, because of their cares of the world, it dies.
The good ground would be of those truly seeking a testimony. When they here the word, they let it grow. They let their testimonies grow strong and they are rightous. They are able to bring forth good works. And Christ says that some bring forth "an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." So even within the rightous, some will be more so than others and bring forth more good works than others.

The Joseph Smith Translation of Matthew13:23 is this:
But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth and endureth; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

So those of the good ground also endure in the church. They stick with it, and are able to endure worldy temptations.

I know that if we seek the truth, we will find it. And if we seek the understanding so that we do understand it, and live by the ways of the gospel, we can bring forth fruit. "Some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."
I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Resist Temptation

I'm subscribed to the Daily Gems from LDS.org (they send a short quote every day, check lds.org for more info). Today the quote reminded me of a lesson on repentance we had recently in seminary.

"When we have received a forgiveness of sins, a broken heart serves as a divine shield against temptation. Nephi prayed, 'May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite!' (2 Nephi 4:32). King Benjamin taught his people that if they would walk in the depths of humility, they might ever rejoice, 'be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of . . . sins' (Mosiah 4:12). When we yield our hearts to the Lord, the attractions of the world simply lose their luster."
Bruce D. Porter, "A Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit," Ensign, Nov. 2007, 32

I really liked that because a step of repentance that we forget a lot is to come unto the Savior.

I know that once we are truly converted (or have a change in heart, or come unto Christ), our wants will start to become aligned with the Lord's and temptation will not be so tempting. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

SET: Alma 36:17-20

SET stands for Share, Explain, Testify. So when I say SET, that's what I mean. When I set I will share a scripture, explain it, and testify of a principle within. Setting and pulling principles are skills that can come very useful when sharing the gospel. The best way to develop the skill is just through practice.

So I'm going to set Alma 36:17-20.

In Alma 36, Alma the younger is old talking to his son Helaman before he dies. (later chapters for his other sons.) In this section he is telling Helaman about his conversion.

17 And it came to pass that as I was thus aracked with torment, while I was bharrowed up by the cmemory of my many sins, behold, I dremembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, ahave mercy on me, who am bin the cgall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting dchains of edeath.

19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my apains bno more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

20 And oh, what ajoy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

Alma turned to Christ and his pains were taken from him. He had a true conversion and he was filled with great joy.

I know that if we experience a true conversion like Alma did, we will be happy too. If we turn to Christ he will carry our burdens. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

What kind of things do you worry about? Maybe the economy? Maybe your job? Maybe school? Maybe how you look?

In Mark 4:36-41 we read about the story where Christ calms the sea.

36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.

37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.

38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, aPeace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great bcalm.

40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so afearful? how is it that ye have no bfaith?

41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

In this story the disciples worry about dying. But the Master is there with them so do they need to? The chorus of "Master the Tempest is Raging" reads:

The winds and the waves shall obey thy will:
Peace, be still.
Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea
Or demons or men or whatever it be,
No waters can swallow the ship where lies
The Master of ocean and earth and skies.
They all shall sweetly obey thy will:
Peace, be still; peace, be still.
They all shall sweetly obey thy will:
Peace, peace, be still.

So, the disciples were in the boat with the Master. But, "No waters can swallow the ship where lies the Master of the earth and skies." They didn't need to worry.

There was another man on a boat. Noah built an ark and gathered his family and animals onto it. The earth was flooded, but all on the ark were safe.

So compare the ark and the boat to the church. We need not worry if we are on the boat with the Master. We will be safe.

This conference Elder Holland said:
"I ask everyone within the sound of my voice to take heart, be filled with faith, and remember the Lord has said He 'would fight [our] battles, [our] children’s battles, and [the battles of our] children’s children.'10 And what do we do to merit such a defense? We are to 'search diligently, pray always, and be believing[. Then] all things shall work together for [our] good, if [we] walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith [we] have covenanted.'11 The latter days are not a time to fear and tremble. They are a time to be believing and remember our covenants."

So to get on the boat, we must "search diligently, pray always an be believing." Once we are on the boat, "all things shall work together for our good."
We shouldn't fear and worry about these the latter days, Christ doesn't want us to. There is one valid worry that we can have, are we on the boat?
I know that if we get on the boat things will work out. Don't worry! I have seen this in my own life, and I testify that if you will get on the boat you will be alright. Things will work for your good. I saw this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Prayer

I haven't been able to post here for a few days and I apologize. And I started this last night, but regretably wasn't able to finish, It got too late.

The other day in seminary we had a lesson on prayer.
How do you pray? Do you thank for what you have, and follow it with a list of things you want? A lot of times we pray like that, and don't even realize it.
To help us learn how to improve our prayers, we explored Matthew 6:5-15 and wrote down a principle for each verse using our scripture study skills.

I will take these one verse at a time and tell you my interpretation. Although you are free and encouraged to try and find something that applies to you.

5 ¶ And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the ahypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

I think that this means that we should pray because we need to. Not just because we know we're supposed to. We should pray with sincerity.

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy acloset, and when thou hast bshut thy door, cpray to thy Father which is in dsecret; and thy Father which eseeth in secret shall freward thee openly.

To me this means that we should keep our prays private between us and Heavenly Father.

7 But when ye pray, use not vain arepetitions, as the bheathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

The principle in this verse is to not say the same things in every single prayer with no sincerity. We should change our prayers and make it from our hearts. Here's some common things we say, I'm sure you can finish them.

"We thank thee for this..."

"Please bless this food that it will..."

"Bless those that could not be with us today that they may..."

"Please help us to take this lesson..."

There are more, but I really don't have space...

8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father aknoweth what things ye have bneed of, before ye ask him.

Heavenly Father knows what you need. He wants you to be humble and ask Him for it. Through prayer, we will be able to realize what we need, and be able to pray for that. Instead of what we want. Our will will become aligned with His will.

9 aAfter this manner therefore bpray ye: Our cFather which art in heaven, dHallowed be thy ename.

I had trouble with this one. But through thought I think it's telling us to be respectful and reverent when we pray.

10 Thy akingdom come. Thy bwill be done cin earth, as it is in heaven.

This verse goes along with number 8. Remember when Christ prayed and asked for His Father's will to be done instead of His? We need to do that too. Our Father knows what we need. We need to be humble enough to ask for what He wants done.

11 Give us this day our daily abread.

There are several ways of interpretting this verse. I think that the bread is the Spirit. So when we pray, it's like our daily boost of the Spirit. And If we pray daily we will be able to feel the Spirit more strongly throughout the day.

12 And forgive us our adebts, as we bforgive our debtors.

We can ask for forgiveness when we pray, as well as help to forgive others.

13 aAnd blead us not into ctemptation, dbut deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the eglory, for ever. Amen.

This reminds me of 1 Corinthians 10:13. We can pray to avoid temptation and to be delivered out of evil if we do meet temptation. He will protect us from such things, and I know he does.

14 For if ye aforgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

15 But if ye aforgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

These two go together. If we forgive others, God will forgive us. But if we don't forgive others, He will not forgive us.

I testify to you of the real power of prayer In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.