Parable of the Sower and the Soil (Luke 8: 4-15)

While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable:  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 of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock, 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.  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, “He who has ears to hear, let him 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 through 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 rock 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.

What does noble stand for?  It stands for greatness of mind, high and great in character, excellence, fine, illustrious, outstanding, splendid, and magnificent.

This is an illustration of what God’s Word can accomplish in a good and noble heart making us productive in the work of God’s kingdom.

In John 15 Jesus uses the illustration of the branches and the vine, and his Father being the gardener.  In verse 8 Jesus quotes, “This is to my Father’s glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”   According to the parable found in Luke 13:6-8 about the fig tree, God expects us to produce fruit by the fourth year of our Christian walk.

Consider in the natural a child by the age of four that could not walk, talk, feed himself, or was still wearing diapers.  That child would be called immature for its age.

In Hebrews 6: 1-3 we are challenged to let go of elementary teachings of Christ and going on to maturity in our Christian walk.

As one can see, we have set before us a self examination of where we are at, and where we are going.  The question each one can ask himself is, WHERE DO I FIT IN?