Dear friend,

Spring has sprung!

This month heralds the first day of a new season and, if you’re like me, perhaps your thoughts turn to planting gardens and sowing seed.

Of course, the Bible has a lot to say about sowing seed, with the most well-known passage being the story in Matthew 13 of Jesus telling the parable called the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1–23).

I have also heard that parable called, and have said this myself, the Parable of the Soils. Others have called it the Parable of the Seed.

What struck me lately as I was reflecting on it was that Jesus called it the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:18). And while the parable is definitely about how hearers receive the message of the kingdom of God, something I hadn’t really considered much was that, to some extent, it is also about the sower.

Many of our modern translations read, “a sower went out to sow” (vs.3). But the original Greek uses the definite article, “the sower went out to sow.”

Because of this, the great preacher of the 19th century, Charles Spurgeon calls Jesus the Chief Sower. I like that because the Lord as the Chief Sower, went out from heaven’s glory and came to earth to sow the seed of God’s kingdom among us. Because of His grace, He sowed with seed landing, not just on good soil, but also where it wasn’t received well—the hard path, the rocky soil, and among thorns. The Gospel is an invitation to all.

When Jesus returned to heaven, He commissioned His followers to sow the gospel seed throughout the earth (Matthew 28:18–20). That means anyone who sows the seed of the Word of God through preaching, teaching, and example is also a sower.

Insight for Living Canada is all about sowing the seed of God’s Word. Pastor Chuck Swindoll teaches and preaches the Word of God, and together you and Insight for Living Canada disperse that seed across our country. Your partnership provides the means to scatter the seed of God’s Word over the air waves, online, and in print. 

As the parable indicates, some of the seed fails to produce fruit, but some of it does produce a bountiful harvest of transformed lives. Here’s what one listener wrote,

I'm so very grateful to you for teaching God's Word and sharing the Good News of Jesus to myself and to the world...I'm tremendously honoured to have found Insight for Living Ministries and have been deeply blessed and impacted and enriched by all you do through resources like podcasts, sermons, books, etc. I want to express my heart’s gratitude to you and all you continue to do for God's kingdom. I have been helped and guided tremendously to deepen my relationship with God and my walk with Jesus.... I'm grateful to be continually growing and changing with God's help and direction.... Praise be to God. Thank you for helping the world know of God and the miracle power of transformation through Jesus Christ and His gift of salvation. Sending so much love and heartfelt gratitude to the ministry.

It's because of your gifts and support from others like you that God’s Word is being sown and is bringing forth much fruit.

Scattering seed with you,

Steve Johnson

Executive Director

PS Send your gift today to Insight for Living Canada to keep sowing the seed of God’s Word in Canada.