“Now the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God.”
As a Pastor, few things get me more antsy than getting ready to hear someone talk about the “Parable of the Sower” – you know, there’s some seed that falls on the path and is eaten by the birds, and some that falls in rocky soil and withers, and some that falls in the weeds and thorns and is choked out, and some that bears a great harvest. Jesus even goes on to explain the parable, but I have heard more lousy presentations on this text than any other.
The push so often is a “how do we sow the Word of God better or more efficiently” – and the parable gets used as a pretext talk about some new “strategy” that we have. But that’s not the parable. We call it the parable of the sower, but Jesus says, “Now the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God.” And in the story, the Word of God goes all over the place – generously. Even to places we wouldn’t expect. It’s not a very efficient tale.
But what the parable does do when we consider that the seed is the Word of God is that it shows us three ways that Satan attacks the Word of God that is given to us. The birds come – Satan will simply try to cut you off from hearing the Word. Be on guard against anything that would pull you away from hearing God’s Word! Or there are times of temptation, and if there are no roots, we get into trouble. So be rooted in Christ; remember always that you are His baptized child, both on good days and bad, and remain attentive to His Word. Or there are times of plenty, where we get tempted to be just too busy or too focused on “stuff” for God’s Word – and we get into trouble then.
Over and against all of that, be in the Word. Remain in it. Hear it again and again, because it is in His Word that you learn to see and understand God’s love for you, where you receive it. It is by the Word that the Holy Spirit is given to you so that you would believe. It’s by the Word that you are forgiven of all your sins and strengthened for whatever trials come your way. That’s why Christ generously gives His Word to you over and over again. 
