Preparation of the Soil
Throughout the parable of the sower, Christ represents the
different results of the sowing as depending upon the soil. In every
case the sower and the seed are the same. Thus He teaches that if the
word of God fails of accomplishing its work in our hearts and lives,
the reason is to be found in ourselves. But the result is not beyond
our control. True, we cannot change ourselves; but the power of
choice is ours, and it rests with us to determine what we will become.
The wayside, the stony-ground, the thorny-ground hearers need not
remain such. The Spirit of God is ever seeking to break the spell of
infatuation that holds men absorbed in worldly things, and to awaken
a desire for the imperishable treasure. It is by resisting the Spirit
that men become inattentive to or neglectful of God’s word. They
are themselves responsible for the hardness of heart that prevents the
good seed from taking root, and for the evil growths that check its
development.
The garden of the heart must be cultivated. The soil must be
broken up by deep repentance for sin. Poisonous, Satanic plants must
be uprooted. The soil once overgrown by thorns can be reclaimed
only by diligent labor. So the evil tendencies of the natural heart can
be overcome only by earnest effort in the name and strength of Jesus.
The Lord bids us by His prophet, “Break up your fallow ground, and
sow not among thorns.” “Sow to yourselves in righteousness; reap
in mercy.” Jeremiah 4:3; Hosea 10:12. This work He desires to
accomplish for us, and He asks us to co-operate with Him.
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The sowers of the seed have a work to do in preparing hearts to
receive the gospel. In the ministry of the word there is too much
sermonizing, and too little of real heart-to-heart work. There is need
of personal labor for the souls of the lost. In Christlike sympathy
we should come close to men individually, and seek to awaken their
interest in the great things of eternal life. Their hearts may be as hard
as the beaten highway, and apparently it may be a useless effort to
present the Saviour to them; but while logic may fail to move, and
argument be powerless to convince, the love of Christ, revealed in
personal ministry, may soften the stony heart, so that the seed of truth
can take root.
So the sowers have something to do that the seed may not be
choked with thorns or perish because of shallowness of soil. At the
very outset of the Christian life every
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believer should be taught its foundation principles. He should be
taught that he is not merely to be saved by Christ’s sacrifice, but that
he is to make the life of Christ his life and the character of Christ his
character. Let all be taught that they are to bear burdens and to deny
natural inclination. Let them learn the blessedness of working for
Christ, following Him in self-denial, and enduring hardness as good
soldiers. Let them learn to trust His love and to cast on Him their
cares. Let them taste the joy of winning souls for Him. In their love
and interest for the lost, they will lose sight of self. The pleasures of
the world will lose their power to attract and its burdens to dishearten.
The plowshare of truth will do its work. It will break up the fallow
ground. It will not merely cut off the tops of the thorns, but will take
them out by the roots.
In Good Ground
The sower is not always to meet with disappointment. Of the seed
that fell into good ground the Saviour said, This “is he that heareth
the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth
forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” “That on the
good ground are they, which, in an honest and good heart, having
heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”
The “honest and good heart” of which the parable speaks, is not a
heart without sin; for the gospel is to be preached to the lost. Christ
said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Mark 2:17. He has an honest heart who yields to the conviction of the
Holy Spirit. He confesses his guilt, and feels his need of the mercy
and love of God. He has a sincere desire to know the truth, that he
may obey it. The good heart is a believing
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heart, one that has faith in the word of God. Without faith it is
impossible to receive the word. “He that cometh to God must believe
that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”
Hebrews 11:6.
This “is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it.” The
Pharisees of Christ’s day closed their eyes lest they should see, and
their ears lest they should hear; therefore the truth could not reach
their hearts. They were to suffer retribution for their willful ignorance
and self-imposed blindness. But Christ taught His disciples that they
were to open their minds to instruction, and be ready to believe. He
pronounced a blessing upon them because they saw and heard with
eyes and ears that believed.
The good-ground hearer receives the word “not as the word of
men, but as it is in truth, the word of God.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13.
Only he who receives the Scriptures as the voice of God speaking to
himself is a true learner. He trembles at the word; for to him it is a
living reality. He opens his understanding and his heart to receive it.
Such hearers were Cornelius and his friends, who said to the apostle
Peter, “Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all
things that are commanded thee of God.” Acts 10:33.
A knowledge of the truth depends not so much upon strength of
intellect as upon pureness of purpose, the simplicity of an earnest,
dependent faith. To those who in humility of heart seek for divine
guidance, angels of God draw near. The Holy Spirit is given to open
to them the rich treasures of the truth.
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The good-ground hearers, having heard the word, keep it. Satan
with all his agencies of evil is not able to catch it away.
Merely to hear or to read the word is not enough. He who desires
to be profited by the Scriptures must meditate
