Luke 8: 5-15 - The Parable of the Sower

 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”

   When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” His disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,

   “‘though seeing, they may not see;
   though hearing, they may not understand.

  “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

In this passage, Jesus is talking about 4 types of people:

1)   “Those on the Path”

This group of people hear God’s word but do not accept it as truth. These are the individuals who do not ever claim to be a Christian. They openly reject the word.

2)  “Those on rocky ground”

These people are the “in one ear and out the other” folks. This group may be “bandwagon kids.” They get really excited when hearing the word, but forget what they have heard once they go on with life. God’s love and the story of Christ does not resonate in their hearts. They are looking to fill a void in their lives and unfortunately they do not fill it with Christ. These may be the individuals that believe they are saved because they have “said a prayer,” but their story ends there. The passage says that they “fall away” because they never had a root. 

3)  “Those among thorns”

I had a long discussion with my community group about this group of individuals. Are they saved or not? We know that the first two groups are not saved and do not know Christ, but this is a grey area. The passage says that they hear but they do not mature.

John 3:15-18 says-

Everyone who believes may have eternal life in Him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son

According to these verses, All who believe are saved! But I keep going back and forth with this group among the thorns… because the bible also says

“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” Revelations 3:15-6

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.  1 John 2:15-16

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. ¹⁴ For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14

4)  “Those on good soil”

This is the group I long to be in! I want to fall on the good soil and be on fire for the Lord. I want everyone around me to see the joy I have found in Christ Jesus. If I want to be in this category, there are things of this world and things in my life that I have to be willing to give up. What is acceptable to most people cannot be acceptable to me.

It is really hard in our generation to “draw the line” on what is right and what is wrong. It is not always given to us in black and white. I don’t think there are set rules but I do know I am guilty of accepting things as “ok” because the world we live in says they are. If I am truly living my life for Christ, people should notice something different about me. They should ask, why do you choose to not_____ or why do you _____. (You can fill in the blanks) These types of questions can open the door to witness!

Lately I have felt convicted about some of my actions and the things I have done in my past. Although most people would say these things are acceptable, I don’t want to do things that are acceptable to the world… I want my actions to honor the Lord. I want to be “on good soil!” I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m not going to take my chances and live “among the thorns.” I want to know that I belong to Christ!