I. Seeds fell along the Path (v. 4)
EXPLANATION: The Soil on the Path will not grow a seed.
Or that part of the gospel message that can be sowed in us. This first seed falls by the wayside or on beaten path bordering the garden. This is sun-baked hard ground, completely useless for gardening. It is very similar to the soil in the garden, but because of where it is it will not grow seeds.
A seed needs the right combination of fertilization, good soil, water. This ground is beaten, hard, and has no opportunity to do anything with this seed. So it washes away.
ILLUSTRATION: Raymond & Robert’s Dilemma
If you caught Everybody Loves Raymond a few weeks ago, you saw a poor Robert Romano scraping the bowls of food because his hours were reduced at the police station. When Ray, his brother steps in and gives Robert a check for $1000 to help him with his living expenses. You probably sided with Ray when Robert announced the following day that he would be taking all $1000 and spending it on a vacation to LAS VEGAS! The money he was supposed to eat with….. being spent on frivolous things. It was as if Raymond’s words were not impacting Robert’s mind!
APPLICATION: When we do not truly HEAR the Word of God we do not receive the blessings of His Word.
You see we can be hard headed, have our own agenda, our own needs and wants, but God is NOT going to honor that. ANY time we rebel against God we will not benefit.
When our soul is like this type of soil, it is bare, open, exposed, and beaten down. When we shut out the seed of God, we shut our ears and open our mouths. We receive much and profit nothing.
II. Seeds fell on Rocky Ground (v. 5-6)
EXPLANATION: It’s difficult to be a farmer in Cresson.
When ground is extremely rocky, and I think here even rockier – if that’s possible, than our ground; roots cannot take hold. But because of water availability the plant could spring up quickly!
However, when the sun comes out strong they wither and are scorched because they have no depth to their roots. These plants start strong but die quickly because there is no substance to their existence.
ILLUSTRATION: When the truth eludes us.
“I’ve made my choice,” wrote the basketball star. “I love Jesus Christ and I try to serve Him to the best of my ability. How about you?” No, those are not the words of David Robinson, A. C. Green or any other Christian currently plating in the NBA. That testimony is from a tract written thirty years ago by Bill Bradley, the former United States Senator, who tried to win the Democratic Party’s nomination for President. In an earlier Breakpoint Commentary, Chuck Colson talked about how Bradley professed faith in Christ while he was a student at Princeton University. There he became very active in The Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and by the time he was playing for the New York Knicks, he was a very outspoken Christian. But things have changed. In his 1996 memoirs, Bradley says he was put off by the exclusive truth claims of conservative Christianity and bothered by the uncharitable and racist attitudes displayed by some Christians. He now says he embraces all religions, from Buddhism to Islam, “so long as they seek inner peace.”
APPLICATION: The Cost of Temporary Faith is Lost Faith
This is the reason we are never encouraged to seek the temporary, or short term glories in this life. Rather we are taught to seek eternal, everlasting truth and God’s purpose and will for our lives.
Bill Bradley by his own writings condemn his soul. He has lost his zeal for Christ and gives us a perfect and sad example of what it means to have faith that is strong at first, but then withers away, because of a lack of commitment. The Cost of Temporary Faith, is the loss of Faith.
III. Seeds fell among thorns (v. 7)
EXPLANATION: Weeds choke out the intended flowers
Try as you might, if you continue to plow weeds back into your soil and attempt no removal of the weeds, you will continue to have weeds spring back up. Weeds are resilient little plants that seem not to need the basics that other plants need.
They are always there ready to choke out whatever you desire to plant. They mock you when you have seedlings spring up only to die and wither because a weed chokes its resources away. The thorny weeds will not allow a new plant to be born.
ILLUSTRATION: My poor poor, Kentucky Rye.
All of my life I’ve wanted a nice perfect green lawn, those like you see on TV. Probably one of my ideals is the pastor on WB’s 7th Heaven. He pastors a medium sized church, manages a family of what 7 or 8, and somehow always has the perfect lawn. Well don’t look across the street today, because…. That’s not his lawn – it’s mine.
I sewed Kentucky Rye this year, and learned my mistake. The only place it grew is where the weeds were not. And the only reason it grew probably was because of the rainfall.
APPLICATION: Don’t expect your faith to grow if you have too much else going on in your life.
If your life is filled with other things, not even necessarily evil things, just things. Then slowly or quickly one by one they will choke out the impact of the Word of God in your life.
A meeting will cancel this Bible study, and a phonecall will take away today’s devotional time. A bill or bill collector’s call will steal away some prayer time you know you needed to spend with the Lord. The gospel message is also affected by this.
If you choke out God’s Word, it will have a lessened impact in your life.
IV. Some seeds fell on good ground (v. 8)
EXPLANATION: When the ground is good, the seed is profitable.
When seed is planted in good ground the benefits are rewarding. The sower is rewarded, here we see some 100 times, some 60, some 30. But no matter what those are all good returns on what was sown. A small seed went in and a harvest was reaped.
ILLUSTRATION: If only Interest Rates were so good.
Before you whip out that plastic, remember, most people don’t handle these little debt detonators very well. The fact is, nearly 75 percent of Americans who use credit cards make only the minimum payment each month. At that rate (minimum payments) you could spend the next thirty years paying back a $3,000 credit card debt and give the financial institution $8,000 worth of interest. It’s the principle of compound interest in reverse.
Credit Cards – Savings account 2.0% IF YOU’RE LUCKY.
APPLICATION: Receiving God’s Word – Leads to Growth In God’s Word
As believers we are to receive Christ and let His Word be planted in our hearts. As a result we should see what the Bible calls FRUIT. Good works should come out of our relationship with Christ.
If you don’t know Christ yet, perhaps you haven’t prepared your heart. Much like these soils today, your heart can be on the wayside, close to the garden but not quite there, rocky soil – quick in faith but faltering, or among the thorns where the whim of the devil steals away your relationship to God.
Today it’s time to take care of where God is leading you. Receive Christ and let His Word grow in you.
