The parable of the sower and the seed is a very familiar one and one of the few that Jesus explains to the disciples. However, I don't usually connect this passage from Isaiah with the parable. I find it interesting to compare the rain and snow with God's word.
We take rain for granted most of the time, unless we live in an area of drought or in the desert. We plant our gardens, and we wait for the rain to come and help the flowers or the vegetables grow. We know that when the rain or snow has done it's work, it evaporates and the clouds grow heavy and eventually it will fall and water another part of the earth.
When there is no rain, or not enough rain, the ground becomes dry and the flowers and vegetables don't grow, but wither and die.
The word of God is given to us for a purpose. God tells us that it will not return to him without accomplishing his plan.
It was God who spoke the world into being. It is the word of God that promised us salvation, and it is the Word of God who came into the world to redeem it by his life, death and resurrection.
God's words are still at work in our world and need to be spoken through us as well as through the reading of the Scriptures. This word is the seed of faith which has been sown in each one of us and needs to be sown by us so that it will continue to accomplish the will of God in generations to come.
The purpose of God's word will not be accomplished until the final harvest, but we must do our part so that the harvest will be plentiful.
