Sowing and ReapingSowing and reaping, as described in the Parable of the Sower, is truly relevant for the Christian artist. It is a principle, which is rich with meaning. It would help to read it first in Mat 13:18-23 (The picture trail is presented backwards, from the image of the completed work through the various little mini steps that led to it. Please click on the images for a closer look) The final relief sculpture is fairly large - 24x24" sq.
On the surface, the principle of sowing and reaping appears rather self-evident. What could be more obvious? If you sow, you will reap. True, but not always. Although the seed has the potential within it to grow and produce much fruit, the condition of the soil is a greater determinant of the seed's final productivity.
Keeping the soil of the heart jealously guarded, free of greed, worries and hardness of heart, is possibly the best formula for fruit bearing. It seems to me that God is far more interested in the condition of our hearts, while we obsess about sowing and reaping. If we were perfectly honest, we enjoy the reaping more than sowing and even better, (if we could get away with it) reaping without sowing!
All too often, we doubt the power of the seed to multiply, more than we critique the condition of the soil of our hearts. I guess it is always easier to blame God for our failure to bear fruit, than in is to run a self-check on the conditions that seem to be hindering productivity. The principle of sowing and reaping, is also best understood within the context of time. I am impatient to see the fruit of my labor, almost before the soil has been allowed time to settle over the seed!
The parable describes the passage of time, in the the heat of the day, the choking action of the thorns and the receptivity of the good soil. Sowing and reaping only happens in the context of extended time. Nothing about it is instantaneous.
A different aspect of the Parable of the Sower, is what I have chosen to depict in this relief sculpture. We as people of the Book, have been called to share and spread the seed – the power of its pages. May we ever remind ourselves that each word in those precious pages carries enormous power!
They carry the power to change lives, to bring peace, to offer comfort, to make winners out of hopeless people. But the greatest power of the seed is difficult for us, as earth dwellers, to fully comprehend. The seed holds the power of eternal life. As recipients of this seed, we are in turn instructed to be faithful to sow. Some seed will fall on rocky or thorny ground, and some lost to the birds, but if we are faithful to sow, some will fall on good ground. Those are guaranteed to produce good fruit, in season.
It never ceases to amaze me that the divine Maker of the seed has no harvest, until we are faithful to sow. That He would choose to partner with fickle human beings, is mind-boggling! While He has equipped us with everything that we would ever need, in the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, He has withheld Himself from doing the actual sowing. That has been left to us. When we look at the withering sapling on rocky ground, we despair and quit sowing. The shoot choking among thorns, screams to us that it is futile to sow. The birds that swiftly snatch up precious seed from the common path, mock us with their cunning. And together, everything conspires to shout, the very thing we must not do,"It is in vain, so stop sowing!" The truth of the matter is that there is always good soil somewhere, which yearns for the seed.
As I ponder this, I set myself resolutely to be faithful to sow, in every season, until my term as the sower is up. That I pray, will also be your resolve. Return from Sowing and Reaping to Home Other Polymer Clay Projects 
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