Matthew 13
1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. 2 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. 3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Jesus was preaching the Word and to Him every word, every minute was of utmost importance. In the short time He had He wanted the message to reach the people. He wanted the Word to reach people’s hearts. That is why He spoke in parables, such as this one in our text.
The Sower sowed in different soils.
- Some fell on the path (away), trodden by many people. The soil was so hard that nothing could be planted and thrive. The seed simply couldn’t penetrate the hardness. This is like the hardened heart. Even when God’s Word is preached which is the good and genuine seed, it falls on a hard place. It could be that Jesus has been sending seed to your heart for years but it just does not penetrate because you’ve allowed your heart to become hard. Perhaps you still attend meetings (with your Bible), even some prayer meetings, but your heart remains hard. Check the hardness of your heart. Perhaps your hardness is also preventing others from coming to God.
- Some fell on rocky soil. It is so stony that there is little soil for the seed to thrive, even though it germinates quickly. It just can’t get rooted. Such a person withers with a little heat. Perhaps he is over-sensitive and is easily offended – perhaps by someone who seems to not greet them in the expected way. His faith withers at the slightest provocation.
- The soil with thorns and weeds is truly troublesome. Weeds grow much faster than the good seed. These weeds block the growth of the good. Sin is like that. It stops growth immediately. This may be the reason for your lack of growth. We must deal with these thorns and weeds. Sin must be confessed. Do you really expect to grow spiritually when you don’t thoroughly deal with sin? No matter the quality of the seed, its potential is lost when weeds are allowed to grow with it. Therefore, get rid of these weeds! Pull out the roots!
- Then there is the fertile soil. The Sower trusts that he’ll get a harvest. It responds immediately to the seed. God’s grace is in abundant supply and it becomes evident. People will not be afraid of approaching you and easily offending you. There is a graciousness about you which will make others to be drawn to you for they know that they will receive something from it.
Is this grace evident in your life? That love, patience and having time for other people. Those who are around you find that, they too, grow spiritually.
If there is not this good crop in your life then you must recognize that it is because you’re a “path”, or “stony”, or “thorny”.
Perhaps you remember a time of spiritual fertility in your distant past. It could be that the “cares of this life” have choked the good seed. Perhaps you’re chasing after money has throttled the life out of you.
Pull out the weeds, deal with the stones, by repentance. Then, you’ll be the good field that the Lord speaks of and you will enjoy a new sensitivity towards God and His work.