This study is the second part of a two-part study on Jesus Christ’s parable of the sower. If you have not read part one, you should go and read it or read Mattew 13: 1-23, Mark 4: 1-20, and Luke 4: 4-18. Doing this will allow you to read the parable of the sower, explanation of the parable’s meaning, and context to what we will cover in part two.
We believe Jesus Christ also wanted to impress the importance of the state of our hearts when we heard the word of God. What type of soil are you going to be? Where is your heart when you read, hear, and study the word of God? Where is your heart when the pastor is preaching at Church? Are you bearing fruit for the kingdom of God? Are you truly trusting in God, or has the material things of this world blinded and choked the seed that got planted in you?
Let’s take a look at Psalm 78; I believe it will give us an understanding of how God feels about the state of a person’s heart towards Him. Psalm 78:18-19 “18 And they tested God in their heart by asking for the food of their fancy. 19 Yes, they spoke against God: They said, ‘Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?’”
This verse talks about Israel when they were in the wilderness and had just come out of Egypt. They did not trust God to provide food for them; they limited God’s power and did not truly believe in God’s ability to provide for them. Well, how does God take the state of heart that they had? We will go back to Psalm 78 and see.
Psalm 78: 21 “Therefore the Lord heard this and was furious; So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also came up against Israel” (Jacob and Israel are the same, but when this was wrote there were two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, both Israelites/Hebrews)
We can read that God got very angry, furious as it says in the verse. Psalm 78 tells us in verse 22 that God was furious, “Because they did not believe in God, And did not trust in His salvation.” So, are you as the pathway that got sown in seed, that got trampled underfoot, and the birds came and devoured it away? (Luke8:5) Are you hearing the word, and then going out with friends to get drunk, or continually practicing some other sin, and by doing this allowing satan to snatch the word right out of your heart?
God has shown His grace and mercy through Jesus Christ, almost everyone on earth has heard of Jesus Christ, and soon it will be everyone on earth. In the same regard, God showed the Israelites mercy by still providing food and water for them after they complained and didn’t believe. Yet as Psalm 78:32 tells us, “In spite of this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wondrous works.” Don’t be the pathway the seed got sown upon but trampled over, and the birds devoured. Repent, turn away from sin in your life, pray to God to give you the ability and strength to do so in the name of Jesus Christ. “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” (Matthew 4:17)
Let’s move on to the seed sown among the rocks (stone) and sprang up, but when the sun came up, it withered away because it had no deep roots. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Joshua 1:8 states, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Jesus reiterates this old testament quote in Matthew 4:4 “But he (Jesus Christ) answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Even if it is only one verse, are you reading the Bible every day? Are you doing the only meditation permissible by God by meditating on His word? Are you going to Church every week? Are you praising God? Are you fellowshipping with people at the Church? Do you feed your spirit as much as you feed your body? Are you rooting yourself deeply into God’s word and the Church?
You may not think you need to go to Church or fellowship with others in Church, but Hebrews 10: 24-25 tells us, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” In 1 Corinthians 12: 12-24, we read, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. “And in Colossians 3: 16, it states, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Do not be the rocky soil that seed was cast upon; root yourself deeply into the Word of God (Read the Bible and words of Jesus Christ) and a church. So you do not fade away when the Christian life brings persecution, hard times, and temptations, all of which can be attacks of satan and his demons.
In Matthew 6: 19-21, Jesus Christ says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. In this world, we all have work, whether that is going to college to get a better job or working whatever type of job you have. Some work harder than others, but we all must work. Yet, do you work as hard for God as you do for your job or your college education? Do you study the scriptures like you do for a test or think of it as working towards a promotion? Have worldly material things like having a ton of money, striving for a fancy car, or having a bigger house taken president over God, Jesus Christ, reading the Bible, going to Church, evangelizing, or other spiritual, heavenly matters?
Jesus Christ spoke to us on such matters like in Luke 6: 24, “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.” The old testament spoke of striving to be rich in Proverbs 23: 4-5 by stating, “Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.” In Hebrews 13:5, we read, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” A personal favorite verse on the subject is from Matthew 6:24, where Jesus Christ said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” So, focus on God, do not let this world overwhelm you with wanting material things, least the word that was planted and the work God has done in you is choked out by your love of material things. Fame, Fortune, none of this matters or is worth striving for in the long run. That is why Jesus Christ said, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit (lose) his soul?” (Mark 8:36) Remember, satan even tempted Jesus Christ with the power to rule all the nations of the world if He bowed to satan. (Matthew 4:7-11)
As Christians, we must be like the good soil that received the word, understood the word, and bear fruit for God’s kingdom. In 2 Timothy, it is stated that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” So, read the Bible every day, even if it is just a few scriptures. Matthew 16:18 Jesus Christ is quoted as saying, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” As well in Matthew 18:20, Jesus Christ says, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” So do yourself a favor and go to Church, join a Bible study, assemble with other believers, and fellowship. “And he (Jesus Christ) said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.’”(Mark 16:15) Go and tell others about God, his gift to the world, how they can have eternal life through Jesus Christ, and bear some fruit.
This study is a collaboration from Rory and Crystal
(Scripture is from ESV except Psalm 78 is from the NKJV)
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