FOUR SOILS
“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering his seed, some fell along the path… Some fell on rocky soil…other seed fell among thorns…still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew, and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.” Mark 4:3-8 (NIV).
Although this is a long passage, this parable and its interpretation need to be read and understood together as one. This is a well-known story, but we can easily miss its meaning and importance. In the Hebrew way of thinking, stories were read for identification. Who am I in the story? According to Jesus, the Word of God is the seed. The soil is the attitude with which the seed is received.
Hard ground implies that beliefs and attitudes are so fixed that new ideas have no place in the mind of that person. He refuses to believe that he may be wrong and needs to change what he thinks and believes. He is not open to truth and continues to live by the lies he believes. The Word of God has no impact on his thinking, and he just keeps living the old way with his unsolved hang-ups and issues.
Shallow soil represents hearts that willingly receive the Word which begins to grow. However, the tender young roots soon meet with the resistance of a hard layer under the shallow topsoil. There is an expectation based on a belief system that this new life does not meet – and the heart begins to resist the tests that are part of the character-building God is busy with. The new life eventually withers and dies.
The third soil already has stuff growing in it. The new plants of Christian character germinate among the weeds but, since there is no room for both, and since troubles and trinkets have a powerful hold, the delicate plants of character lose their foothold and die.
The fourth ground is fertile and free of other things. The heart is open and willing to receive the truth and patiently applies it, learning to submit to discipline and receive the grace that transforms the life through a mind that is being renewed day after day. The fruit of the Spirit is being formed in the life; the character of Jesus slowly becomes real and there is eventually a full harvest of righteousness that imitates God’s character.
When we read stories like this, it makes us realise that becoming a believer in Jesus is not easy. The gospel message meets with all kinds of resistance, from what we believe already, what we expect God to be like and to do for us, our troubles and problems and even what family and friends may think of us.
To be a genuine and faithful follower of Jesus, we must deal with all these things and decide whether following Jesus is what we really want to do, because turning back from following Him is a serious decision to make.