The Right Dirt
Have you have ever tried to cook something but you left out or tried to substitute for the ingredients called for in the recipe? Or grow something but you didn’t prepare and care for the soil you planted in? It never works out the way you hoped it would. In the Parable of The Sower (Matt. 13:1-9; 18-23), Jesus explains that we must have the right type of heart condition in order to receive and grow in the word of God. The wrong types of heart conditions will fail to achieve the discipleship that God calls for in His kingdom. I pray that you would allow God to condition the “soil” of your heart to receive His word and grow in your walk with the Holy Spirit to become more like Christ. Amen.
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.” ((Matt. 13:1-9) As Jesus was increasingly encountering a divide between those who followed Him as disciples accepting His ministry and those who rejected Him and His message, He began using parables in His teaching to reflect this emerging division. The parables were stories of ordinary situations that people could easily relate to, but the stories were also meant to teach important lessons about the proper response to the kingdom of God. The Parable of the Sower was the first of 7 parables in the gospel of Matthew. Jesus ends with an appeal for the audience to go beyond just listening. Those who were really His disciples would seek a deeper discernment about the parable’s spiritual meaning. I want to do more than hear the word, I want the word to take root in my heart!
Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. (Matt. 13:18-21) After the disciples asked Jesus about why He was speaking in parables, Jesus began to explain to them both His motive for speaking in a parable and the meaning of this parable. He called this “the parable of the sower”, but the focus of His explanation was the various types of soil that the seed (the word of God) fell upon. The first soil represented hearers whose hearts were hardened, so that God’s word couldn’t take root and Satan was able to snatch it away from them. The second soil represented hearers who heard the word of God and initially accepted it with enthusiasm. But the word quickly died out in their hearts because of the heat produced by trouble or persecution in their lives. Don’t let Satan or the troubles in your life rob you of a relationship with God and the benefit of His presence.
The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matt. 13:22-23) The third soil represented hearers of God’s word whose hearts choked out the word’s growth because they allow distractions of this world (money, worry, anxiety) to lure them into trying to live life without God. But the fourth soil represented the type of heart that God desires us all to have. Hearts that are open and receptive to God’s word, and does what it takes to allow the word to grow within them. These hearers do not just work to grow God’s word in their own hearts, they work to help grow God’s word in other hearts so that the word reproduces disciples multiple times. I want to grow in God’s word and to reproduce and multiply more disciples of Jesus.
This parable is commonly known as “The Parable Of The Sower”. However, Jesus told this parable not to focus on the sower, but to draw attention to the dirt. Jesus wanted us to know what the right condition of our hearts needs to be in order for us to produce abundantly for the kingdom of God. For those whose hearts are right, open and willing to receive the word of God, they will become the disciples that God desires and they will multiply disciples for God’s kingdom. They are not just focused on finding new converts to Christianity, but they are disciples (followers of Christ who build a relationship with Him) who themselves make other disciples. They also teach those disciples to make other disciples and so on. Many churches focus on getting new people in the doors of the church, but they fail to grow people in Christ once they get there, and so the soil doesn’t develop allegiance with Christ to make disciples for the kingdom. Jesus is looking for those who will become true disciples and make other disciples, thereby multiplying themselves 30, 60 and even 100 times over. It is only by having a right and willing heart that any of us are able to demonstrate that the word of God has been planted… in the right dirt. Let those who have ears, hear!
Blessings, Rev. Glenn
