READ LUKE 8:4-8/11-15
The main thrust of my message this morning centers around these questions: which soil do we currently find ourselves in, and how can we move towards being good, receptive soil?

1. BY THE WAYSIDE
a. The first type of soil Jesus mentions is really soil at all, it’s essentially the ground alongside a path. The seed that gets thrown there, ends up getting trampled or eaten by wild animals before it ever has the chance to embed itself in the ground. Jesus sheds light on this by saying that this is how Satan attacks the seed that is thrown out. Because the word is heard but not received, the enemy has free reign to wreak havoc. In fact, it is the unreceived word that draws the attack of the enemy.

2. ON THE ROCKS
a.  The second type of soil that Jesus talks about is soil that is littered with rocks. This is one of the ones that I’ve seen over and over again. Essentially Jesus says that those who are of this type hear, and receive the word with joy, but they never get around to growing roots. Without the roots, when trial and testing come, their faith folds completely. One of the things we can glean from this passage is that immediate growth is not always a sign of lasting transformation. Most of us know the spiritual high that we feel after leaving a powerful meeting, conference, or camp, but if that doesn’t translate into the pursuit of depth, eventually it will fade. Moreover, without the depth that comes with developing spiritual roots, we will be tempted to buy into the idea that outward success is equivalent to God validating our life. If everything’s going well on the outside, we assume that we are inwardly ok. The only problem with that is as soon as our circumstances change, our faith changes. Without roots, we will be left looking for outward circumstances to validate the condition of our inward reality. We will think God loves us when things are going well, and we’ll think God’s left us when things don’t go our way.  When we become rooted in God (not just our idea of god), our security transcends our circumstances.

3. AMONG THORNS
a. The third type of soil Jesus mentions is also prevalent among many of us, especially in our type of society. Jesus speaks of this soil as being someone who received the word, but due to their concern for worldly things (money, power, careers, pleasure), they never move onto maturity. These ambitions and desires act as thorns briers, choking the life out of their faith. The problem for so many of us is that we believe that we can just take our walk with Jesus and tack it onto (and usually at the end of) everything else we have going on in life. We think parcel up our time and energy, 50% of my time is for my job, 20% for friends and social interactions, 20% for things we have to do in order to keep everyday life moving, and finally, 10% for God. The only problem with that is that God doesn’t want 10%, He’s not even satisfied with 99% (as we’ll see in a different parable), He wants it all. You can’t follow Jesus 99%. Until we see that all of our life, every activity, relationship, and endeavor should be pointed towards Him, we will actively stunt our own growth as believers.

4. THE GOOD SOIL
a. The last soil Jesus mentions is known as the good soil. This is the person who bears fruit, whose faith withstands trial, adversity, and suffering. Jesus gives four indicators as to what makes up good soil:

i. Hearing – Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by
hearing the word of God. This is one of the reasons why spending time in scripture is important. When we saturate ourselves in scripture, we open ourselves up to the voice of God that enables us to have faith.

ii. Retaining – The word used here speaks to keeping something close. We see this in the life of Jesus’s mother, Mary, when she receives new that she is going to bear a child. In Luke 2:19 it says that she treasured up the things spoken to her in her heart. She didn’t go around telling every single person what God had just told her. It’s easy for us to want to do that. We are not patient, and we often use our spirituality as a means through which we can feel validated. Treasuring the word of God in our hearts goes against those notions and chooses to allow God’s word to marinate in our hearts so that in due season, fruit will burst forth.

READ JEREMIAH 17:8
iii. Persevering – Fruitfulness comes on the other side of persevering. It is not instantaneous, and we can’t always dictate when it will happen. Paul, in 1 Corinthians, speaks to the fact that it is actually God’s job bring fruit. If we never persevere, we will never see that which God is wanting to form in us. The writer of Hebrews puts it this way:

HEBREWS 10:36-39 -
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.” 38 And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” 39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

The final observation I want to present to you is that of the seed. Jesus says the seed is the word of God. We know from John 1:1, that the word of God is Jesus, Himself. So, we see here that Jesus, like a seed, has been scattered amongst all different types of soils by God, and it is our choice as to what kind of seed we will be. Will we allow the things of this life to keep us from maturing? Will avoid doing the work that it takes to let our roots grow down deep so that when the storm comes, we’ll be able to withstand? Will we persevere? The enemy doesn’t want you to be rooted because he knows that if you are, you’ll be able to withstand whatever comes your way.