“A
sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the
birds came and devoured them. Other seed fell on the rocky ground, where they
did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth
of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root,
they withered away. Other seeds fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up
and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some
hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” (Matthew 13:3-8)
In our previous post we discussed the
seed planted along the path. In this post we shall consider the rocky ground of
our Lord’s parable. He explains His meaning in verses 20-21. “As for what was sown on rocky ground, this
is the one who receives the word with joy, yet has not root in himself, but
endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of
the word, immediately falls away.”
Sometimes a person hears the word of
God and is so overwhelmed that they respond immediately with great joy and enthusiasm.
They start off like a ball of fire, adrenaline and excitement spurring them on.
However, pure adrenaline and excitement does not last forever. Faith based upon
such temporary conditions must necessarily be temporary itself. When
persecution arises because of the word, their excitement dissolves into
confusion and disillusionment.
Sadly, many new Christians have the
mistaken idea that putting on Christ (Galatians 3:27) marks the end of hardship
in this life. It is a rude awakening when they continue to face the “normal”
difficulties of life plus new one’s because
of the Word itself! It is not a pleasant thing to be mocked, laughed at, or
excluded because of one’s faith in God’s Word; yet it is the Christian’s lot in
this life (2 Timothy 3:12). The only way to truly prepare for such times is to
continually arm one’s self with God’s Word.
Saving faith is a settled, convicted
thing. It is something that has never happened by accident. The Hebrew writer
warned of the need to pay much closer attention to God’s Word or one will drift away from it (Hebrews 2:1).
When persecution arises because of
the word, the answer is to cling even more closely to it. It is God’s word that
warns of the persecutions to come (2 Timothy 3:12), explains how they can be
overcome (2 Timothy 3:16-17), explains why they should be overcome (James
1:2-4), and explains the ultimate reward for overcoming them (James 1:12).
Always remember that the cross comes
before the crown. What a tragedy for a Christian to denounce the crown just to
avoid the cross! Such is the foolish and fatal choice of the rocky ground
heart.
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