How Rich Is Your Soil?

How Rich is Your Soil?

In several instances Jesus gave lessons by telling stories called “parables” because they required some thought to fully understand. The lessons were intended for the people who were truly wanting to know more of the Kingdom of God. He wasn't interested in those who came just to say they were there.

The first parable He preaches in the 13th chapter of Matthew is the one we'll study; the Parable of the Sower. This story tells about ways the gospel message will be received & what it will produce. In the story a sower comes out to sow seeds. The sower here is Jesus Christ or others who go out to spread the gospel. The seed is the Word of God. The soils He describes will be those who hear the message. The condition of the soil represents the condition of the person who hears the message.

(4)“And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. (5) Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. (6) But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. (7) Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. (8) And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.” (Matthew 13:4-8)

He says the sower went out to spread the seeds & some fell by the wayside. These seeds fell there & birds came to eat them. Jesus is saying the Word that was shared was given no value & did not have time to take root in the person's heart. The words are heard but quickly stolen away. Being left like that it was exposed for the birds to devour. The birds represent demon spirits. It was no problem for Satan to send his evil spirits to take those words & eliminate them so they produced no fruit at all. The devil will do all he can to stop the growth of God's Kingdom.

These people go to church on Sunday morning because it is the Christian thing to do. They hear what the pastor says but it doesn't change the way they live. In their heart they don't desire to truly understand the message given or follow the principles. This makes it easy for the devil to steal the seed away from them. He only has to whisper a temptation in their ear & they follow him.

Farmers know that for the ground to be ready to produce a good crop the soil has to be broken up. The heart has to be broken up to receive the Word of God in the same way. The Holy Spirit breaks the heart up the way the soil is plowed. He breaks the heart through conviction of sin. The soil described in this verse has not been broken & is still very hard. The seed cannot take root. The devil quickly steals away the seed not giving it a chance to grow at all.

In verse 5 we see Jesus describing soil that has “rocky places.” When the seeds fall in this soil they have just enough to get started growing. The person who receives the seed professes great faith in God, but when the roots start to grow they hit a stone. The seed has no depth to hold it. Jesus is telling them when the gospel message isn't taken into their heart & allowed time to take hold the person will be vulnerable to persecutions. When the sun (representing persecution) comes up, which it always will, the new growth has no roots & will be scorched & whither away easily. When troubles arise the faith of the worshipers who are of stony soil quickly disappears. Their faith may be passionate when the Word of God is delivered, but because it has no roots that passion is short-lived.

Verse 7 describes the type of soil many worshipers would fall in, soil with thorns. The thorns He is mentioning represent things that draw our attention away from the Lord. Thorns are like weeds growing in the field. The soil may be very rich but when weeds are present they draw the nutrients away from the plant. A healthy relationship with God cannot grow with things like sin, money, activities, sports, work, & many other things piled on top of it. By themselves those things can be good. But when they are all put together & take more time & commitment than God they are toxic! They hinder the growth of the Word in the heart. I think it is safe to say that most of us have too much going on in our lives. Do you have things piled up in your life that take precedence away from worshiping of our Lord? Then you have weeds in your soil!