Matthew 13:1 - 9
1That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. 2And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. 3And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. 5"Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 6"But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7"Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. 8"And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. 9"He who has ears, let him hear."
In the past I've heard it said that the seeds Jesus were referring to were individuals who were exposed to the Word of God. While that could be the case, I personally believe that the
dirt is the individual and the seeds are the Word of God. So by looking at these set of verses within that context, here is what one can get out of it:
Starting in
verse 4:and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.
Other versions of the Bible replace the word 'road' with 'path'. Back in Jesus' time, roads were traveled all day, every day. Hundreds of people would walk on these roads, causing the dirt to become packed, and nearly impossible to penetrate. This type of dirt is not the most ideal for planting seed.
Just like a well-traveled road, people themselves can become packed and nearly impossible to penetrate. This could be caused by a "been there, done that" attitude, or someone being too busy to let God work on them. When the Gospel is shared with them, it just stays on the surface and never has time to mature.
Verse 5-6:"Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. "But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
The person who is like verse 5 and 6 is one who may have started off as an "on-fire Christian", but if you compare how they are now to how they were then, their fire seems to be snuffed out. Why does this happen? Because the seed didn't have any root! A person receives the message of Christ's love, but doesn't allow the proper amount of time and effort to mature in it! Sooner or later something will 'burn' them and they decide "This isn't for me."
Verse 7:"Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.
The thorns are anything that try to prevent someone from maturing in Christ. It could be anything ranging from situations to sin. When you leave dirt alone, weeds and thorns begin to grow up around it. You must stay on top of it, weeding out anything unwanted. Even though a thorn or weed might start out small, eventually it will consume everything and choke out the good seed. Just like sin.
Verse 8:"And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.
Finally, the good dirt. This is someone who really 'got it'. They heard about Christ's saving grace, accepted it, and allowed it to mature. This is the type of dirt we must all strive to achieve.
There's hope for the 'bad dirt'. It might take some time, and it might hurt a little, but everyone can be 'good dirt' if they choose to. The path can be tilled. I've seen roots break through concrete. Thorns can be burned.
God can do anything.