The Parable of the Sower Part 2
In the movie A Few Good Men, Kaffee said “I want the truth!” to which Jack Nicholson’s Jessup replied “You can’t handle the truth! “
Can you handle the truth? Today we explore the first of the four kinds of soil in the Parable of the Sower. Jesus starts by saying:
“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.” (Matthew 13:3-4)
Later in the parable, Jesus explains the meaning of each kind of soil. In verse 19 he explains the seed that fell on the path by saying:
“When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.”
Did this ever happen to you: You are listening to a powerful sermon…. You know that what you are hearing is true. And you say, “My friend sure needs to hear that one…”
But really…this message was a word of truth from God meant to challenge you…now!
Jesus says that the evil one comes and snatches that word of truth away. But can we just sit passively by and blame the devil? No! Scripture often exhorts us to handle the truth and not have a hard heart.
My wife and I live where there’s hard water. We need a water softener. When we don’t listen to the truth because our heart is hardened towards it, God provides heart softeners. God loves to soften our heart —–he will break up hard ground in our hearts if we ask. Check this Scripture out:
Break up your unplowed ground;
for it is time to seek the Lord,
until he comes
and showers his righteousness on you. (Hosea 10:12b)
As we often find in scripture, this verse shows a powerful combination of what we do and what God will do.
Lord, by your Holy Spirit show us how to turn from what is hard-hearted in our life and to your loving truth. Yes, with your power we can handle the truth!
1. Cat picture courtesy of http://fav.me/d3d1rjb
Kenny B's World 