Soil that Holds Fast
A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold (Lk 8.5-8a).
I always used to associate the Parable of the Sower with evangelism: when people are presented with the gospel, it goes one of four ways. This is certainly a sound application. But some time ago a single phrase from Jesus’s own exposition of his parable jumped out at me:
Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience (Lk 8.11-15).
“The seed is the word of God” (Lk. 8.11b). Suddenly I saw this parable in another light. It isn’t only an illustration of unbelievers with whom we might share the gospel. It applies to much more than evangelism. It applies to each one of us, every day. The soil is a picture of the human heart and the desires that hold sway there. Every time God’s word is read, preached, or remembered, the Sower is sowing his seed. Every one of us who hears the word is the soil. Every time we listen, there are four ways it can go with our hearts.
It is Christ’s commentary on the first soil that leads us to associate the parable with evangelism. Those stony hearts are as receptive to the seed of God’s word as a concrete sidewalk. Words of grace skitter over the surface and the devil quickly snatches them away. These don’t believe what they hear. (Matthew 13:19 further explains that the word is snatched because they do not understand it.) Therefore, Jesus tells us, they will not believe and they will not be saved. This inclines us to think that those hearers are those who are new to the word, the un-churched, so to speak. But what about the rest? What do we do with those who “believe for a while?
At this point it is helpful to remember to whom Jesus is speaking. There were likely a few Pharisees in his audience. There were also probably some Sadducees. And all the rest were people who were subject to the religious culture those leaders presided over. In other words, whether they were highly moral, or whether they were people whom the Pharisees labeled “sinners,” Jesus was not preaching to rank heathens. These were Jews, believers in Yahweh. And they had one other thing in common: every one of them had flocked to the Preacher to hear the word of God being preached, just like us this morning.
Jesus was bringing the Gospel of the Kingdom to eager ears, interested ears. Even so, he tells them (and us) that his word does not receive the same welcome wherever it lands, nor does it thrive in every heart where it is planted. Salvation—that ultimate fruit of God’s word—he explains, isn’t evidenced in a single moment, a single prayer in response to an altar call, or a single decision. It isn’t even proven by a flurry of fervent enthusiasm and zeal.
“Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son” (2 Jn 9).
The condition of the soil is revealed by its relationship to the word over time. Salvation is evidenced by ten-thousand decisions to cling to God’s word, dozens of daily refusals to let the devil snatch that word from our hearts and a lifetime of not letting anything choke it out. Salvation doesn’t look like a moment’s faith—a single sinners’ prayer. It looks like years of holding fast to the truths of the Gospel when we are tempted to return to legalism, to cave in to sin, or to openly abandon the faith entirely. And it means an entire life spent stubbornly refusing to let worries or pleasures distract us from the Gospel and its promises. This is the work of a heart that Christ has made honest and good. It bears fruit only with patience.
“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain” (1 Co 15:1-2).
The gospel of Jesus Christ is not only a door to walk through, it is also the long road we travel and the only food that will sustain us along the way (cf Jn 14:6). It saves us day after day after day. Brothers and sisters, we have not arrived. We cannot afford to harden our heart to the words of Christ: “Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away” (Lk 8:18).
(A shorter version of this article was previously published in 2022.)
