Jesus spoke to the crowds through parables and then later He would explain the meaning of the parable to His disciples. The parable of the seed found in Luke 8:4-15 has always been one of my favorites.
In this parable the seed is the word of God and the four different soil examples refer to four different types of individuals and today I want to focus in on two of them.
"Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture." Luke 8:6. Jesus explained it to His disciples this way in Luke 8:13; "Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away."
If the seed represents the word of God and it is joyfully received, then what happens when trials or temptations come along to cause it to wither away? Why is there no firm root that would enable it to stand fast in storms?
1 Corinthians 3:6 says; "I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth." Notice the progression, just as in crops, you sow the seed, you water it and God causes the growth. The missing piece in the above example is the watering. How many people hear the word of God and they receive it joyfully but they fall away because they never put down roots, they never had the moisture that comes from the living water of Scripture! Apollos was watering, if they had an Apollos to mentor them, to share the importance of being in the Word daily, they would have roots and not fallen away.
Luke 8:7,14; "Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to maturity." Please don't miss the thorns, worries, riches and pleasures of this life, the world will choke the Word and your life will never bear fruit to the glory of God. Scripture warns against loving the world and becoming attached to it in James 4:4; "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."
Life application? Drink daily and drink deeply from the Word of God. Guard against the lusts of the world, riches, so called pleasures and don't worry! Fix your eyes on the eternal things that will not fade away, bear fruit in your life and so bring glory to the Father.
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