SEEDS, PLANTS and SOULS

5 SPROUTING

First, germination.
A seed must have three vital ingredients
if it is to sprout into a plant:
Water, nutrients and air.
Although they are not specifically mentioned
in the parable,
I think that there are spiritual equivalents.

The most important
- water -
is essential to stimulate germination
and also for subsequent growth.
All living plant cells are made up of over 80% water.
Nutrients and air can only be used if water is present.
Water can therefore represent the Spirit of God.
In the same way that the physical seed must have water
to germinate and grow,
our faith will only be born and bear fruit
by the action of God's Holy Spirit working in our lives.

Water on its own will not be sufficient for a plant.
It must also have
- nutrients -
which form the raw material
from which the plant tissues are built.
In the same way our faith must be fed.
What are our spiritual nutrients?
They are the things that we do
to understand and deepen our faith,
such as studying the Bible,
sharing in Communion,
and fellowship with other Christians.
But these things can only have effect
if we let the Holy Spirit
guide and empower our understanding,
just as the plant must have water to assimilate nutrients.

The third need in nature
- air -
is necessary to allow the interchange of gases
that are produced and used by the plant.
Air would seem to represent our prayers,
which are essential to be able to communicate with God -
 not only our own prayers,
but also the prayers of others.

Later on
we will look at these three basic building blocks of life,
 both physical and spiritual,
in more detail.

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