The Parable of the Sower (part-2)

January 04, 2012

New Year's Promise

"Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." [Joshua 1:8]

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The Parable of the Sower (part-2)

The thorn-infested ground represents another class who hear the word in a superficial way. They appear outwardly to be genuine subjects of the kingdom but in time their interest is choked out by the cares of this world and by their delight in riches. There is no fruit for God in their lives.

An illustration of this is represented by a son of a money-loving father with a huge business. This son heard the Word in his youth but became engrossed in the business. He had soon to choose between pleasing his Lord or his father. Thus the thorns were in the soil when the seed was sown and geminated; the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches were already at hand.He fell in with his father’s wishes, devoted himself fully to business, rose to be head of the concern, and when well on in life had to acknowledge that he had neglected things heavenly.

He was about to retire and he expressed his intention to be more diligent in matters spiritual. But God is not to be mocked. The man retired and died suddenly in only a few months. He left $900,000 and a spiritually wasted life. The thorns had choked the word and it was unfruitful.

The good ground represents a true believer. He …hears the word receptively and understands it through obeying what he hears. Although these believers do not all produce the same amount of fruit, they all show by their fruit that they have divine life. Fruit here is probably the manifestation of Christian character rather than souls won to Christ. When the word fruit is used in the New Testament, it generally refers to the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22,23).