Luke 8:11-15

“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 ad riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for 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.”

            Many times in my life I’ve been taught this parable, but I’ve never applied it to my life or really dug deep into what this is saying. This first group on the path are the people who hear the word, but don’t do anything with it and just continue on their way. These people don’t think that the gospel is for them, or it doesn’t apply to their life, or they just don’t get it; they don’t have faith so they cannot believe or be saved. The second group receives God’s word and believe it with joy, but they have no root. This group bases their relationship with God on a knowledge basis and when times of trial come, they fall away because they don’t have deep rooted faith in Christ. The third group is people who embrace the word of God, at first, but then the things of the world distract them. The things of the world are the thorns that reach up and latch on showing them the riches, pleasures, and temporary satisfaction that the world provides making their fruit be choked out. The fourth group are those who hear the word and have steadfast faith in Christ. This group holds fast to what the Lord promises and perseveres in all the trials and thorns that come with life in a dark world. This group bears good fruit because of their patience and are deeply rooted in good soil.

            While reading this, most of us probably said to ourselves, “I’m obviously the fourth soil because I love Jesus and have a relationship with Him,” but is that honestly true? When we have trials, do we hold steadfast to what the Lord has promised? When the world shows us things that look pleasurable and we miss out on something fun, or we stand out from the crowd, do we persevere and keep pushing on with patience knowing God will help us bear fruit? I know for me, I want so badly to be the fourth soil, but don’t always succeed. I let the world grab ahold of my temptations and weak spots and those are used to tear me down. I don’t always hold steadfast to God in a trial and I doubt His ability to bring me through it. The wonderful thing about all my mistakes is that there is grace given from the Lord and He redeems those times in my life. If we were supposed to be perfect, like that fourth soil, then why would we need Jesus? God makes us that fourth soil when we trust in Him. We can never get ourselves to a perfect spot, where we grow beautiful fruit without God. I try to bear fruit on my own and figure it all out myself, and it always fails. My abilities will only go so far, I am weak, but the Lord is strong. He wants us to surrender to His plan and bear the fruit through us. On my own, I won’t be able to bear good fruit; I have to be in full surrender before the cross and have patience and perseverance with the Lord even when it all seems pointless.

            My application for this week is to ask my roommates what trials God has brought them through and what fruit He has given them from it.