Monday, July 22, 2013

The Parable of the Sower


The parable of the Sower is one of the more familiar parables Christ taught (Matt 13:3-8). Like all parables, the story is relatively simple, comes from real life experiences, and teaches a valuable lesson, which is that the condition of a man’s heart (the soil) determines the fruitfulness of the seed (the word of God).

While this parable is referring primarily to the Gospel and the process of salvation, I think it’s acceptable to view the seed as representing any spiritual truth…God’s truth as it relates to any aspect of life, not just salvation. The whole of Christian life is one continuous and progressive response to fresh spiritual revelation.  

With that thought in mind, let’s see what the parable teaches those of us desiring to walk in God’s
truth. The first soil is the path…ground so hard the seed is eaten by birds before it has a chance to sprout. This represents the hard heart from which Satan removes truth. Hopefully, none of us are in this category.

The fact that you are reading this indicates that your heart has an interest in the things of God. Next is the rocky soil which represents the shallow heart. This heart has an immediate and joyful, but short lived response to truth. The shallow heart responds with an emotional burst, but dies out quickly when problems arise. No fruit is brought to maturity, The third soil is the thorny soil. The cluttered heart is one that is so full of competing things the truth is choked out and is unproductive. Finally we hear about the good soil. This soil is deep enough for germination to take place and for adequate roots to develop. And because this soil lacks thorns, a fruit bearing plant is the result. This is the productive heart. This is the heart God wants each of us to possess.

To keep this devotional from becoming a sermon, I’m going to focus on only one soil…the thorny. I have chosen this soil because it all too often is a picture of my own heart and I know that I’m not alone. Jesus is very specific as to what is represented by the thorns in the soil……worries of the world, deceitfulness of wealth, and pleasures of this life.

The worries of the world represent the poverty stricken person who is literally worried about getting enough food to maintain his physical life. For us who are fortunate enough to not be in that situation, the worries of this life represent the everyday problems encountered by humans living in this fallen world. These may be small, irritating things like flat tires, demanding clients, or they may be major issues with our health or family life. These are thorns with the potential of destroying our response to God if we allow them to do so. Christ also said the thorns represent the deceitfulness of wealth. Who us?


Just because we live in perhaps the most materialistic and money worshiping society in history doesn’t mean we’ll be deceived by the allure of wealth. Or does it? Wealth is deceiving because it promises us happiness. In our society, we are constantly bombarded by the message that money will bring us joy and fulfillment. Riches are deceitful because they promise what they can’t deliver. Only God can give us true and lasting joy. Only He can bring fulfillment to our lives. Buying into the world’s mentality by pursuing wealth as the means to contentment is certain to result in spiritual unfruitfulness.


What about the pleasures of this life? I can’t say it any better than the following sermon excerpt: “Amusement should be used to do us good like a medicine; it must never be used as food for the individual. From early morning until late at night some spend their time in a round of frivolities, or else their very work is simply carried on to furnish them with funds for pleasure. This is an age of excessive amusement. Everybody craves for it like a babe for its rattle. In the more sober years of our fathers, men and women had better things to live for than silly sports. The thorns are choking the age.”

That hits pretty close to home for most of us in today’s fun seeking society. What’s really interesting about this statement is that it’s found in a sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon in 1888! If only Charles could see us now!! God wants us all to be fruitful. He wants to see His truth grow and mature in our hearts until a visible result is produced in our lives. His truth, like Him, is constant. It never changes. What changes is our heart and we alone are responsible for the condition of our heart.

We all know that a field, a garden, or a yard needs attention to be maintained in a weed-free state. The same is true of our hearts. We all need to be in a constant state of watchfulness to see that the thorns of worry, money, and pleasure do not prevent God’s truth from having a bountiful effect in our lives. 


—Russ Sharrock


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