Plant the Word of God in your heart
Luke 8:4-15(AMP) When a large crowd was gathering together, and people from city after city were coming to Him, He spoke [to them] using a parable: “The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road and it was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the sky ate it up. And some seed fell on [shallow soil covering] the rocks, and as soon as it sprouted, it withered away, because it had no moisture. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. And some fell into good soil, and grew up and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.” Now His disciples began asking Him what this parable meant. And He said, “To you [who have been chosen] it has been granted to know and recognize the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that though seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. “Now [the meaning of] the parable is this: The seed is the word of God [concerning eternal salvation]. Those beside the road are the people who have heard; then the devil comes and takes the message [of God] away from their hearts, so that they will not believe [in Me as the Messiah] and be saved. Those on the rocky soil are the people who, when they hear, receive and welcome the word with joy; but these have no firmly grounded root. They believe for a while, and in time of trial and temptation they fall away [from Me and abandon their faith]. The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, but as they go on their way they are suffocated with the anxieties and riches and pleasures of this life, and they bring no fruit to maturity. But as for that seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word with a good and noble heart, and hold on to it tightly, and bear fruit with patience.
From the above, we note that: The Sower is Jesus Christ. The seeds are the Word of God. The bird is the evil one, and the soil is those who are presented with the gospel of the Kingdom.
The hearer can do one of four things:
- Reject the Word The first person’s heart is hard. Therefore, the word will not sink in. The soil represents those people who do not respond to the Word. If they hear it, it goes in one ear and out the other.
- Get emotional about it and fall away when they face objections. This soil (person) is rocky, and unable to be tilled. They receive the word with joy (excitement and emotion) but do not let it root (no depth). They meet ‘tribulations and persecutions because of the Word’ (the seeds) and then fall away (reject the faith). They hear the Word and say: ‘Yes! This is what I’ve been looking for! This is the instruction I need! This is helpful advice.’ And they begin to do what God’s Word says. But because of the rocks in their lives, they develop only little roots and wither away amongst the rocks. And what are the rocks? The rocks are the temptations of life. The rocks are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. This soil represents the life under spiritual pressure. Pressure to sin especially. Pressure to stop believing what they initially received with gladness.
James 1:23-24(AMP) For if anyone only listens to the word without obeying it, he is like a man who looks very carefully at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he immediately forgets what he looked like.
- Accept it but dismiss it as the world and its cares and the deceit of money take hold of him. This soil (person) is thorny. They hear the Word, but the thorns (the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches) are their undoing. They choke the Word right out and they are unfruitful.
- Take in the Word fully and obey it, grow personally and by the fruit they produce when sharing the gospel. So then, the main message is faith and its growth when presented with the Word of God. The good person (soil) not only hears the Word, but he also understands it. In the parable, to understand the Word is to believe it and obey it.
Matthew 13:23(AMP) And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands and grasps it; he indeed bears fruit and yields, some a hundred times [as much as was sown], some sixty [times as much], and some thirty.”
Jesus said, we must hear the Word, retain the Word, and persevere if we want to produce a crop. We must dig beneath the surface and allow the truth of the Word to penetrate our hearts.
I conclude with Luke 8:15(MSG) “But the seed in the good earth—these are the good-hearts who seize the Word and hold on no matter what, sticking with it until there’s a harvest.