WHAT KIND OF SOIL ARE YOU PLANTED IN
Matthew 13:18 Listen then to what the parable of the sower means.
Today I would like to talk about what I feel is one of the most important parables that Jesus ever shared with his disciples and was recorded for us.
It is a parable that most people can relate to certainly farmers. It is one of planting seeds, and having a harvest or not one at all. In this parable the farmer begins by sowing his seed. Sowing is a method of throwing the seed verses making rows with furrows, and then putting the seed down in the ground and covering them up.
In the first example, the seed falls on hard ground along a path. Because the seed could not get down into the ground the birds came and ate the seed. This is much like the people who have a hard heart towards God. Maybe they felt that God let their loved one die, didn’t help them from losing their job, gave them bad parents or in general gave them a bad life. These people often see God as in absolute control, and don’t see free as part of their life. Even when they purposely do something wrong they still blame God, and say God has predestined them to be this way and nothing will change so why try. They have become embittered with life, with God, and even with themselves. They see themselves as being cast to the bottom of the barrell, and God slammed the lid down on them. But even when someone tries to help them learn the truth and get right with God, they don’t want to hear anything about it. Oh, they may politely stand there and listen until they can't take it any more and then lash out, but they have already set their heart against God. Satan, the powers of darkness, the evil of this world, the world in general and even they will be very glad to get rid of the gospel seeds that help a person to become a lover of Jesus.
They have all kinds of ways of doing it. They will remind the person of the many times they prayed and God never answered their prayers. They will remind the person of how hypocritical that Christians can be, and how they often attack each other. They will be reminded that the church just wants their money. Then when going over all their excuses for not loving Jesus and becoming a Christian they will simply say, “When have you seen God lately? How do you even know he is real? When you did you die, you no longer exist, besides no one really understands that mumbo jumbo anyway.” The hardness of their heart has closed themselves off from God, and doomed themselves to eternity in hell.
Next is the example where the seed is cast on rocky soil, and the seed can not put down good roots. Sad to say many Christians fall into this category, and for the most part it is the fault of the leadership. Pastors, Sunday School teachers, Bible Study teachers and parents do not teach sound Biblical doctrine. They may focus on traditional dogmas and nit pick over if a person has to be baptized under the water, whether the water is running like a river to wash away the sins, sprinkled or poured so the sins run off a person, or they have to stand under Niagara Falls to get really free of their sins. This may sound ridiculous, but thousands of churches and denominations do this, and never once point to the reality that only faith in the grace of Jesus’ wonderful atonement will bring forgiveness of our sins and reconcile us to God. They never point to the truth that if baptism could have brought forgiveness that the Jews were already doing this with no external effect. They focus on works righteousness with giving of the tithe, working at their pot luck dinners to earn money, serving on the different boards in order to control things in the church, and from the pulpit they hear five ways to live a happy life, how to raise your children, and how to get other people to be just like us! There are no deep roots being put down into sound doctrine that builds up faith and trust in Jesus. Doctrinal roots that are based on what Jesus has done for us and not what we can do for him. Roots that give assurance of God’s love, faithfulness and salvation. Today in many churches and even many very popular mega churches the focus is horizontal and not vertical on Jesus. For people with no deep roots of sound Biblical teachings the superficial formalities of the church becomes easily replaced with more pleasing social entertainment. This is why we see so often the continued elevation of grandeur of churches or as for the churches that can not afford such grandeur a more casual worldly atmosphere. Either way it is all about what kind of stuff the roots are pulling up to form their life.
The next seed is sown on soil with weeds that pull nourishment from the root system. While these Christians may go to a good church that has good Bible based teaching that keeps people focused and grounded on Jesus, they have one foot in the church and one in the world. They have a divided loyalty that keeps them from being all they could be in Jesus regarding their relationship with him and their Christ-likeness. They are neither wholehearted for Jesus or the world. They are what might be seen in the Book of Revelation as a lukewarm Christian. They will make it to heaven, but as it says in I Cor 3:15 that people as one escaping through the flames. They could have had so much more, but settled for so much less.
The final example of seed sown that is seed seed cast on good soil. These are people that are wholehearted for Jesus that try to live each day practicing his presence and try to become more like him in their character. I believe that the harvest is not necessarily the number of people that they help to become a Christian, but rather their relationship with God based on their love for Jesus and their Christ-likeness. I believe it is not so much as what we do for Jesus, but what we have become in Jesus. This is why Jesus says that unless we become like a little child we can not enter the kingdom of heaven. It all about loving Jesus! The more we love him the more everything else will get in the right order.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, thank you for helping us to be all we need to be in and for Jesus. We all need your help so very much. Thank you for helping us. We love you!
