Jesus compares teaching the gospel to planting a crop in the field. A farmer sows his seed. Some he scatters along the path, and it’s trampled underfoot. Some seed falls on the rock, where, lacking moisture, the plant withers before it can mature. Some falls among thorns and is choked by them. But some seed falls “into good soil” and grows, yielding “a hundredfold” (Luke 8:8).
This “seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11). And what does the good soil represent? Jesus says that “they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience” (v. 15). The Lord doesn’t explain exactly what the “hundredfold” means, but the following true story may be a good illustration of his teaching.
Several decades ago a Christian brother in North Carolina named Al Lawson set up a Bible study with Mabel Nicholson, a neighbor committed to a false faith. She learned the truth and turned her back on human religion. Mabel became a New Testament Christian. Thrilled to know “the way of God more accurately” (Acts 18:26), she eagerly shared the good news with her family.
Mabel’s siblings obeyed the gospel too. The last I heard, all the children and grandchildren of Mabel and her ten brothers and sisters were faithful Christians. Laurie Simons, a good friend of the Wright family, is one of Mabel Nicholson’s many granddaughters.
Some seed “fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold” (Luke 8:8). Perhaps we will never personally convert 100 people. But who knows? A Mabel Nicholson may be living in that house across the street or down the block.