Parable of the Sower Explained As A Progression
“Hear then the parable of the sower: ‘When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty’” Mathew 13: 18-23.
This is the famous Parable of the Sower that most everyone, Christian or not, is familiar with. The seed represents the word of God. And the soil is the heart of the hearer of that word. To read the surrounding chapter for context, click here.
It’s exciting when the Lord gives us a promise, whether from his Logos word (the Bible) or as a rhema word to our heart or from someone else. But the promise won’t automatically or effortlessly come to fruition.
There are three main temptations that will prevent us from bearing fruit and reaping a harvest of the seed (which is the word of God). If we’re not careful.
Parable of the Sower Explained: Unbelief or Trials
The first temptation is to not believe God’s promise at all. This is the seed sown along the path.
If we manage to make it past this temptation and begin to believe God’s word, the second temptation is to faint, give up, and stop believing when it gets hard. This is the wilderness experience. It’s a situation that seems to contradict God’s promise to us.
Just as the wilderness seemed to be the antithesis of what God promised Israel (Exodus 16: 1-3), in the same way, our “scorching sun”(Mathew 13: 6) wilderness experience will seem to make a mockery of God’s promise to us. This trial that tests our faith is meant to build the endurance that eventually leads to maturity.
But if the seed is planted in shallow ground, the trouble rather than building endurance will cause the seed to wither and die. This is what happened to the Israelite’s when their wilderness experience caused them to give up their faith in the promise. And go back to Egypt.
But if we manage to endure our wilderness testings, and progress to maturity (which is what testing produces) we’re on our way to our promise land. But that doesn’t mean we’re not tempted anymore. It just means the nature of the temptations change. We’re not out of the woods just yet. We’ve not yet arrived at our promise. But we’re making good progress.
At this point, we’ve made it past two major temptations: We’ve believed God’s promise. And we’ve continued to do so even when trials tested our faith. We’ve gained endurance and are on our way to maturity. Because of this, the blessing of God begins to come.
Distracted by the Gift
We start to experience some success and pleasures. . . and the care that goes with it. If we’re not careful, those blessings will choke the promise. And make it unfruitful. We will become distracted by the gift to the neglect of the Giver.
There are always snares and temptations involved with success, pleasures and blessing. Deception and worry are the thorns that will choke the promise at this stage if we’re not careful to root them out.
So with every promise the Lord gives us, there will be three major temptations to overcome before it can mature and bear fruit and produce a harvest.
The first is the temptation to not believe the promise at all because of a hard heart. Verse 19 says the promise is not understood. And verse 15 tells us it’s a hard or calloused heart that prevents the word of God from being understood.
So, if God tries to speak something to our heart and we say “that doesn’t make sense” or “it will cost me too much” or “maybe later”, that seed is sown on the hard, compacted ground of the path.
Rocky Places
If we choose to believe and receive the promise and continue to do so until it is tested with trials and troubles, that seed is sown on rocky places. This is the second temptation we’re faced with when God gives us a promise.
The word of God will invariably be tested. We will experience something that seems to be a contradiction to the promise.
The Israelites experienced this in the wilderness. Because the wilderness which had no water, and could not sustain life was about as from from the “land flowing with milk and honey” God had promised them as they could get.
These trials that test our faith are intended to bring us to maturity. But if our heart has rocky places in it, these trials will instead cause us to lose faith. Just as they did for the Israelites when they wanted to go back to Egypt.
Their trials caused them to give up their faith in the glorious promise God had given them. If our faith in God’s word makes it past these first two temptations, we are on our way to maturity. And God begins to bless us. We begin to enjoy success and pleasures. And the attendant care that goes with them.
Distractions and Deception
And this represents the third temptation of our faith: distractions and deception. Blessings can be a snare and a temptation. They can distract us. And we must guard and protect that promise from things that would cause us to lose sight of it-to lose focus.
Here’s the progression: Promise> Faith (unbelief, 1st temptation) > Endurance through trials that test our faith (give up, second temptation) > Riches, pleasures, cares > Stay focused on promise (lose focus, 3rd temptation) > Fulfillment of the promise.
Once we have faith, both trials and blessings can prevent that faith from maturing. And keep the promise God has given us from being fulfilled.
Parable of the Sower Explained: Tested by Trials and By Blessings
I believe our faith in God’s word will always be tested. First with troubles that seems to contradict the promise. We will be tempted to grow weary and give up our faith.
If our faith endures the first test, and we continue to believe despite the contradictory circumstances, will begin to come into the blessings, success and pleasures of God. And with it comes care. And the temptation to lose our focus.
Our faith will first bring trouble. And then if we endure the trouble, blessing. If we resist the temptation inherent in these two states, we will ultimately see the fulfillment of God’s promise.
To read another post related to The Parable of the Sower Explained As A Progression, see Leadership and Suffering the the Bible: The Link.