When I was fifteen years old, I went on my first trip outside Brooklyn. All I knew was Parkside Avenue, the playground, stickball, hooping it up—just playing ball all day long. I went with my best friend to southcentral Wisconsin to work on a dairy farm. I knew Dairy Queen—they made soft ice cream. But now I was on a farm with forty-five to fifty cows.

My friend’s uncles woke me every morning at four thirty. What human being gets up at four thirty? “Come on,” they said. “You’re here to work. Let’s go.” Down to the barn we went, walking among the cows. Then we worked in the fields all day.

While we were in the fields, I heard them talking. “No, the corn’s not good over here. It’s because of the soil.” I didn’t know dirt from soil. In Brooklyn there was a tree on the sidewalk in front of my house, with maybe a foot of dirt around it.

Soil is an important aspect of Jesus’ teaching in the parable of the sower. This principle is not just about becoming a Christian. It applies to all stages of life.

Jesus started the parable, “A farmer went out to sow his seed. . . . Some fell along the path” (Mark 4:3–4). This seed fell on the roadside, and birds of the air came and ate it. Nothing came of that seed.

Then “some fell on rocky places” (Mark 4:5). So the seed took, and there was life. But when the sun came out and it got really hot, the plant needed to go deeper to be sustained. It couldn’t. Rocks were blocking the roots, so the plant died.

Then Jesus said, “Other seed fell among thorns” (Mark 4:7). Again, plant life came up. But the thorns choked it out. The good seed died.

Finally, Jesus said, “Still other seed fell on good soil” (Mark 4:8). What was good soil? It was just soil that received the seed. So the seed went deep into the soil, and because of the sun and the rain acting on it over time, it multiplied thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.

Later the disciples came to Jesus and said, “What does that mean? We don’t understand.”

“Okay,” Jesus said, “I’m going to explain.”

Jesus told them that the farmer goes out to sow—the preacher, the Christian. We can all sow seed. We plant it in other people’s lives.

Some seed lands on the path. Jesus said, “These are people who hear the Word, but it never gets deeper than the ear level or a little bit of the mind” (see Mark 14:15). The Word is not really embraced. It just sits on the surface, and Satan comes and plucks it right out. He and his demonic forces steal the Word. “The thief comes to steal” (John 10:10). The Word of God has power, but it doesn’t have power unless it gets inside us.

Then Jesus said, “Other seed fell on rocky places. These are the people who hear it and receive it with joy.” They say, “Yo, I’m down with Jesus. I want to serve God.” But they’re shallow. They don’t really think it through. And their roots don’t go down very deep. When persecution or hard times come because of the Word, they bail (see Mark 4:16–17). I’ve seen a lot of folks stay and a lot of people go. Jesus said, “These are the shallow ones. The rocks were never removed; the soil wasn’t prepared properly.”

Then Jesus said, “Other seed fell on thorny ground.” Again, the seed has life. Grain begins to spring up. But the thorns are right there. No one has pulled the thorns out. “The thorns—the cares of life and the desire for riches and so many other competing interests—begin to make their move and choke out what God wants to do” (see Mark 4:18–19). If the seed is the Word of God, how can thorns choke it out? Because Jesus said they do.

That’s an odd thing about the Word of God—it has all power, and yet it’s delicate. In the same way, the Holy Spirit has all power, but He can be grieved if we’re not careful.

Someone will say, “God’s going to do what He’s going to do.” Well, not exactly, according to this parable. The thorns choke out the good seed, and the rocks stop the roots from going down deep, and Satan comes and steals the precious seed that has all power before it even gets in.

But then Jesus said, “Some seed fell on good ground, and it brought forth life” (see Mark 4:20). Isn’t that something? The seed was embraced—and it brought forth all kinds of fruit.

How should we react to all this?

A famous man of God said to me years ago, “You know, Jim, Christianity is going to become a mile wide and an eighth of an inch deep.” The minute persecution or trouble comes, people will say, “God really disappoints me. I’m not happy like I should be. I’m out.”

“Oh, God,” we should pray, “let Your Word get into my heart. Get the rocks out. Don’t let me be a quarter of an inch deep. Pull out the thorns so Your Word isn’t choked out.”

You might say, “It’s so hard to believe.”

With God everything is possible. Let’s give His Word a chance in our hearts.

Prayer

God, get rid of the rocks in my heart. Give depth to my life. Do it for me—I don’t know how. Make my heart good ground where things can grow and I can be strong and a blessing to others. Let Your Word get into my heart and be multiplied thirty-, sixty-, and even a hundred-fold.

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