This past weekend, we continued our series, "Parable". In this third installment, we looked at the Parable of the Sower...or as we called it yesterday, The Parable of the Soil.
Sometimes when I read scriptures in the bible, I wonder why they put some of the titles or headings over them. Some of them don't really speak to me the same things. This is one of them.
(click on the scriptures below to read them before continuing this blog)
When we read these texts, we see that Jesus is talking about how we receive the message of the Word. Keep in mind, context is everything. He is talking to people who are following him around hanging on every word He says.
There are 4 main components to this Parable and they are important to see:
The Seed
The Sower
The Soil
The Fruit
The first 2 components will be constants in this Parable. Meaning, they are the two things that never change in each of the instances that Jesus talks about. The seed is good. It will grow if given the right conditions. The sower is the same as well. He would scatter the seed the same. The difference maker in the story is the soil.
The soil is really about the response of the heart and the life that we allow to be present when the seed is cast. Our hearts can be filled with so much stuff that it can make it hard for the word to penetrate. Some can look good for awhile only to wither away when persecution or trials come. There are some lives, that look like my yard, they are green and they appear good for awhile until the weeds choke out the real life. And lastly there will be those that can accept the word and it will find a place in their heart to grow and be healthy, but understand, it will only stay healthy if cultivated.
Conditions can change...what was good yesterday can become hardened if not continually cultivated. What was bad yesterday, can be cultivated to support life.
So let's look at the soils.
The first soil that Jesus talks about is THE PATH. It would have been like trying to plant on a sidewalk. It was hardened, untilled, untouched, and unable to support life. These are those people who do not understand the Word. They don’t get what God is doing.
1 Corinthians 1:18 (ESV) For the word of the cross is folly (foolishness) to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
They are close enough to the Sower to get seed cast on them, but they are people who have hardened their hearts because they don’t understand the real message of the cross. We talked last week about the pharisees and scribes. They knew the word better than anyone, but their hearts were so hard, that they couldn’t accept what was being said to them and around them. They couldn’t see the hope of the gospel.
That message would have been blasphemous to them. It would have seemed foolish them. They had hardened their hearts so much that they couldn't receive the good seed. As a result, it would never penetrate their hearts and yield a harvest.
The truth is, even if you cast seed in those areas, if you had some rain on them or given time for the ground to accept it, the gospel would sink in. But Jesus says that the problem is more than just the soil. He says that while the seed is there, the birds came and devoured them.
When we are hardened, if we had time for the message to get into our lives, it would yield some growth. But the enemy understands he has to come and snatch that life away from you.
1 Peter 5:8 (ESV) 8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
The second soil that we see in this parable is THE ROCKY GROUND. Again, we need to remind ourselves that the seed and the sower are the same. They are good and not the problem. But soil has some dirt in it. It is broken up a little bit. But there is still some hardness there.
These are the people who like to receive the word. They want it in their life. It’s what they know will change their lives. The problem with this soil is that has some other stuff in it other than dirt. It’s rocky. That describes a lot of my yard. And what happens in my yard, is that I can sow grass seed and it will come up for a couple of weeks until it gets hot, and then it withers away and dies again.
The people that represent this soil are the ones who honestly like Jesus, they like church, they like the music and the programs. They believe in it and want it to be in their lives, but they are not willing to give up some other things. So as a result, when persecution comes or hardships because of what they believe, they wither. Their faith dies out before they can produce fruit.
The rocky ground will have life for a time, but the moment things get warm, they fade. Thats because when the seed is cast, it will get shallow roots. They never go deep and never have a source that is away from the problems.
Understand something, everyone of us will deal with problems because of our faith. We will be seen differently and not have the friends we once did because of it. We are supposed to be rooted in Jesus and that is what gives us life when the persecution and problems come.
Colossians 2:6-7 (ESV) 6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
You have to fight to stay rooted in Christ. It won’t happen by accident. That means that you will need to get the rake out and get the rocks out of the way in your life. You have to start by identifying that there is a problem so that you can grow and produce fruit. The ultimate goal of christianity is not just getting into heaven. It’s to grow in Christ to produce fruit in keeping with your faith. (Matt 3:8)
The third soil is THE THORNY GROUND. This soil looks good for time. But this is heart that although is ready to receive the word, life crowds out the seed that God has placed in you.
The problem with this one is like I told you with my yard. It looks good from a distance, but when you get close up, you see that the grass is actually not grass. It's clover. It’s something that has choked the life out of it. And eventually if not treated, it will take over.
The seed grows in this case, but is unable to produce fruit. The life that should be there is being hidden and choked out by weeds. The soil is good, but it grows good and bad at the same time because its not being tended to. And those cares of life start becoming bigger than what God is doing in your life.
You can be totally committed to receive what God has given to you only to allow life to keep you from being all that you could be for the kingdom. The weeds of life will steal your effectiveness and the fruit you could have produced.
Weeds can be hidden for awhile because they look the same for a time. Because of that, they are allowed to grow along side of the good seed. Especially if you don’t understand the difference. Weeds can be bad theology. They look good from the outside, til you get a closer look.
The last soil that Jesus talked about was THE GOOD SOIL. It does something different than the others. It produces life that propagates more life.
For a seed to be effective, it has to get into the ground and sprout healthy roots. It has to have warmth (persecution and tribulations) and has to have cultivation to continue to grow.
When the word finds a healthy receptive heart, it can take root. It doesn’t mean that the person is perfect, actually it’s probably best that they aren’t. That means nothing else can choke out the life. But good soil people receive the word of God, they embrace it, and they choose to walk in obedience to it. They are not looking for spiritual loopholes.
When someone truly has embraced the word of god and the gospel, there will be evidence. Their faith with flourish. Jesus said that these seeds produced 30/60/100 fold. Do you know how many more seeds that would put out as well? Incalculable.
John 15:8 (ESV) By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
God is glorified in our lives, not because we attend church, sing songs, work in ministry. He is glorified by the fruit our lives bear. You can't disconnect the two. If you are connected to the vine, you will bear the fruit of that vine.
Matthew 7:16 (ESV) You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
You cannot separate the fruit our lives produce away from what we are connected to. If you constantly have strife around your life or problems come from your life, your connected to it. Gossip is not of God, so what are connected to? Lying is a fruit, but it’s not God’s fruit or a fruit in keeping with repentance.
We know that to be good soil is the goal, but how do we get there?
Hear the word (let them hear)—get into position to hear the word
Understand what you have heard—cultivate your life
Bear fruit—growth that is seen on the outside
Propagate more growth—share the gospel with others
Understand something, you can part of the crowd that hears the word and yet produce anything. You can completely miss what is being said by the Lord in your life. Which means you can attend church your whole life and never get anything from it. It is your responsibility to keep the soil good.
What soil are you today? Understand that change over time. You may have started out good, only to watch the seed get choked out. You must tend to the garden of your heart.
James 1:21 (ESV) 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
Good soil does not mean perfection, it means that it is tended to. Are you tending to your heart?
PJ