Matthew 13:1 says, The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.  We are not told if Jesus actually spoke to His mother and brothers when they came requesting that He come to them.  We should never expect Jesus to come to us on demand to meet our requests, but we should always go to Him to seek His will.  We are told that later that day that Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea side.  Verse two states,  And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.  The crowds were still flocking to Jesus.  If He went to the sea side to rest, it did not work.  Jesus once again went into a ship to separate Himself from the crowd.  They set on the shore close to the boat.  It would be wonderful if people had that same desire to be close to Jesus today, but even then I believe most were there simply because of the miracles Jesus was performing and not because they saw Him as the promised Messiah.  We cannot come to Jesus simply expecting earthly blessings, but must come to Him through faith that He truly is the Messiah, the Savior of mankind.  Verse three states, And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;  We are told that Jesus spoke to the crowd on the shore in parables, which have been described as earthly stories with heavenly meaning.  Though the message of salvation is simple, we must actually us our brains to understand it, and the same applies to understanding the Bible.  Jesus always has and always will make understanding His teachings simple, if we only listen and think about what He says.  The multitudes may have been there looking for miracles, but Jesus gave them the simple truth instead.  Jesus began by speaking of a sower who went out to sow.  Though He didn't say so directly, the sower in this parable was Jesus, Who was sowing the gospel to those around Him.  Verse four says, And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:  Jesus said that some of the seed fell by the wayside and were devoured.  The purpose of the sower did not change when some seed did not fall on fertile ground, just as our purpose in sowing or spreading the gospel does not change just because some do not respond or even attempt to destroy it.  Verse five states, Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:  Jesus said some seed took root and sprung up in soil not deep enough to sustain them.  Some people profess to accept the gospel, but their faith is not deep enough to sustain them when trouble comes, and they wilt away from the gospel.  It takes more than just a shallow profession of faith to live a successful Christian life.  We must be rooted deep in our faith in Christ.  Verse six says, And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.   This is what I just discussed.  Not being rooted deeply, the plants faded in the heat of the sun.  Verse seven says, And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:  I believe this means that some people hear the gospel, but because they are more concerned about those around them who oppose the gospel, they refuse to accept it.  Even in the midst of unbelievers who scorn those who follow Christ, we must always proclaim Him.  We cannot afford to allow others to prevent us from accepting Christ, but many people allow friends or family to do just that.  Verse eight declares, But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.  Some seed fell on good ground, and all brought forth fruit to varying degrees.  As followers of Christ, we are the ones the good seed fell on.  We have heard and accepted the gospel and have our lives deeply rooted in Christ.  As such, we are expected to bring forth fruit, or reach others with the gospel.  We will not all be as successful, but we must continue to sow the seed.  Verse nine warns, Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.  I believe that this means more than just physically hearing the parable, but understanding what Jesus was really saying.  As followers of Christ, the Holy Spirit will always lead us to the understanding of what God has to say to us.  We simply have to be actively listening.