1. Jesus teaches from a boat (1-3)

Jesus went out by the lake to teach the people. Such large crowds gathered that he had to teach them from a boat. He taught in parables. The people had come to him for many reasons, but he scattered the seed of God's word among them all. The seed sown by the farmer was good seed. Each seed had life in it; each one had the possibility of growing and producing good fruit.

2. The soils (4-9)

The kind of soil on which seed falls determines its productiveness. Most of the seed seemed to be wasted. But the few seed that fell on good soil more than made up for this. The heart-soil of the people in the crowd would determine the fruitfulness of the seed of God's word. Those with ears to hear are those with a heart's desire to receive God's word and obey it.

Application: Lord, help me to plant the living seed of your word, trusting the harvest to you. Help me to prepare good heart soil each time I study your word.
One Word: The sower sows good seed