The end of another year is a time of reflection. How have we heard the Word of God? Have we heard it with profit? If Jesus returns to find fruit,will He find it? The beginning of another year is a time of looking ahead and asking the same question. How will I hear the Word of God in 2012? In speaking the parable of the sower,or of the soils,Jesus shows that He is the Sower who sows the Word,“the glad tidings of the kingdom of God” (Luke 8:1). He sows His own Word. He sows the message of sin and salvation. He sows the message of life in Himself. He does so every time we hear the Word. He sows widely – the Word falls on all sorts of soils,that is,on all types of hearts,on all types of people. The Word goes out to every language,tribe and nation. In looking back and looking ahead,we can never fault the Sower,the seed,or the sowing for not having heard the Word.
Jesus then goes on to show the four different types of listeners who hear the Word. They all hear the Word,but their responses are all different. The careless listener is pictured in the seed that fell by the wayside,and it was trodden underfoot,and the fowls of the air found an easy meal (vs. 5). The careless listener is open to the wiles of the devil as Jesus makes clear in his interpretation of this parable (vs. 12). His heart is such that the devil has easy pickings and snatches away the Word before it is able to take effect. The devil works in such a way that the careless listener becomes contemptuous of the Word.
There is also the rocky listener. They are pictured in the seed that fell upon the rock,but withered away as soon as it sprung up because there was no moisture to sustain it (vs. 6). Jesus says in verse 13,“They on the rock are they,which,when they hear,receive the word with joy;and these have no root,which for a while believe,and in time of temptation fall away.” This is a most sobering picture of someone who has heard the Word but falls away because temptation takes the upper-hand. How are you hearing the Word?
There is the choked listener. The seed is sown among thorns and that says Jesus is a picture of someone who hears the Word,but the effects of the Word are choked out because of the cares of this world and the pursuit of pleasure and wealth (vs 7,14). If you are reading this,does this not speak to you? As parents we have so many cares and concerns. As seniors,we have so many physical cares. As young people,there are many temptations to pursue wealth and pleasure. All this can choke out the Word. How then can we hear the Word of God?
The solution is that we must hear with a good and honest heart – the seed must fall upon good soil in order to bear fruit. That only takes place in the heart through the gracious operation of the Holy Spirit as the Sower sows the Word in our hearts and we are led to embrace that Word. Take stock of your lives. Has your heart been good and honest before God? Have you kept and are you resolved to keep the Word in your heart? Are you bearing fruit with patience,with endurance? If we are honest with ourselves,we must confess that our hearts are too much like the previous three categories:hard,careless and choked by the cares and pleasures of the world. But Christ is the Sower. He not only sows,but He is the Seed that causes us to bear fruit because He Himself had the perfect heart that was perfectly receptive to His Father’s will. He is the One in whom our hearts can be changed and cleansed. He takes the Word and brings life. He waters the seed by the rain of His Spirit. Is this Word offensive to you? Or has it led you to deal honestly with your heart before God and seek the Savior? How will you hear the Word this year?
