A farmer goes out to scatter seed. There's four places the seed lands:
- Path - where the birds eat it up right away
- Rocky Places - where it springs up quickly but doesn't last when the sun comes because there is no root
- Thorns - where it gets choked by the thorns growing around it before it can really take root and grow
- Good Soil - where it takes root, grows, and produces a crop
Each of the soils represents a heart and how receptive it is to the Word of God.
In some hearts, it will be snatched away before it even try to grow.
In some hearts, it will begin to grow, but won't last when hard times come.
In some hearts, it will be choked out by the worries and anxieties of life.
In some hearts, it will take root and produce fruit in their lives.
I've always heard this parable spoken of in regards to salvation. It's a pretty clear application.
As I was reading it recently, I was struck by how this applies to more than just salvation. The same concepts continue to apply to our hearts after salvation as well.
We continually have a choice in how we'll respond to God's voice in our lives. When He speaks to us, our hope may be that those words will always take root in our lives and bear fruit, but that's not always the case. Those words can land on any one of these types of soil when we're believers as well.
Sometimes we've wandered away and given Satan access he shouldn't have and he uses this to grab the words before they have a chance to grow.
Sometimes we're not will to deal with the sin in areas of our lives and when the word speaks to those areas it grows quickly but doesn't last because there's no way for the roots to go deep.
Sometimes our focus shifts and we get so focused on the worries and anxieties of life that they choke out the words of truth God is speaking.
Sometimes our heart is receptive to what we're hearing and we respond in a way that brings what God desires those words to bring in our lives.
What kind of soil is your heart right now?
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