Jesus' parable of the soils

Matthew 13:22 (TNIV)

The seed falling among the thorns refers to people who hear the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.

This is one verse from Jesus’ parable in Matthew 13:1-23 of the sower where He describes four kinds of soils.  The sower is God and the seed He sows in His Word.  There are four ways in which the seed reacts on the soil, representing four ways that people respond to the Word of God.  Three of the four soils results in the Word of God having little or no effect.  Only in the fourth soil does the Word of God thrive and results in unlimited fruit.  The soil Matthew 13:22 points out wrong priorities in people’s lives.  Such priorities are worldly that simply choke out the word and results in a person who bears little or no fruit in others’ lives. 

So many people go to church, hear a great sermon, are inspired to make changes in their lives to apply the sermon message, then go to work on Monday, get involved in the secular world, encounter a myriad of problems in their professional and personal/family lives, and quickly forget their desire to make changes.  Jesus refers to two main worldly phenomena that choke the potential positive influence of His word.  One is worry, the other is wealth and its deceit. 

There is a great verse, perhaps one of the most loved verses of the entire Bible that gives God’s perspective on worry.  Philippians 4:6 says that we are to worry about nothing (the Living Bible says “don’t worry about anything”).  That is what God thinks about worry.  Worry is the opposite of faith.  We are human and to worry is natural, but we can control the extent to which we worry.  We are to replace worry with prayer (Philippians 4:6).  Jesus Himself said that we are not to keep worrying (Luke 12:29).  Worry has to be a major weapon of the devil that keeps us from fulfilling God’s will for our lives.  In fact, it’s said that when we worry we are outside the will of God.

Scripture has a lot to say about wealth/money. Jesus taught more on the topic of money and possessions than on heaven and hell combined.  Jesus’ summary about money is found in Matthew 6:24 where He clearly stated that we either serve God or we serve mammon (money, riches, greed).  When we allow (give priority to) money, riches, and materialism to dominate our lives, we for sure choke God’s word right out of our lives 

What kind of soil are you?  May it not be the thorny soil described above; may it be the good soil that bears wonderful fruit in others lives.  May this be your priority, to be the good soil.