"The Seed"

Luke 8:11-15 The seed is God's message. The seed that fell on the hard path represents those who hear the message, but then the Devil comes and steals it away and prevents them from believing and being saved. The rocky soil represents those who hear the message with joy. But like young plants in such soil, their roots dont go very deep. They believe for a while, but they wilt when the hot winds of testing blow. The thorny ground represents those who hear and accept the message, but all too quikly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. But the good soil represtents honest, goodhearted people who hear God's message, cling to it, and steadily produce a huge harvest.

"The seed is God's message". I realize that everytime I get up to preach someone may not get saved. But I am "planting" the "seed" in individual hearts and minds. I would like to draw your attention to verse 12. The "hard path" may be a representation of a sinners heart, or someone that doesn't want to except God into their life. This type of person may go to church, hear the message, and then go back to all of the pleasures of life. Just as the verse says "the Devil comes and steals it away and prevents them from believing and being saved." I believe that a sinners heart is kind of like a rock. Imagine someone pouring a glass of water over a rock. The rock recieves the water but it just flows right off of the rock. So when the word of God is "poured" over this persons heart they recieve it but dont retain it. That is what verse 12 is trying to convey. Verse 13 says "The rocky soil represents those who hear the message with joy. But like young plants in such soil, their roots dont go very deep. They believe for a while , but they wilt when the hot winds of testing blow." This verse is describing a person that is not rooted deep into the word of God, this type of person doesn't have a good strong, solid foundation. I can think of some people that are like this. They are fine until they are faced with a problem or "the hot winds of testing blow" then they crumble up. Just like a house that is built on a weak foundation. Verse 14 says "The thorny ground represents those who hear and accept the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity." Now I believe that we can all relate to this. Our flesh doesn't want us to read the Bible, it wants us to have higher prioritys in life. Sometimes it gets hard, we may not want to read the Bible, the cares and other problems of THIS life may seem to push our true #1 priority out of the way. But we cant let this happen, we have to crucify ourselves daily. Bro. Johnny (my youth pastor) preached on this the other day. We need to put time aside to study the word of God. When we are rooted deep in the word of God and have a strong foundation we will be able stand strong against the troubles that may come to us. Verse 15 says "But the good soil represents honest, goodhearted people who hear God's message, cling to it, and steadily produce a huge harvest." This is the way we all need to be. This type of person has yielded their selves to the Lord and are rooted deep into the word of God. This persons heart is like a sponge. When the glass of water is poured over it, it absorbs it and retains the water. So when the word of God is "poured" over this persons heart they soak it up and retain it.