Matthew 13:1-9 Jesus shared with His disciples much deep and valuable information by using parables. These were short, to the point stories about situations that all the people were very familiar with; but were in reality describing parallel spiritual truths about the Kingdom. Unless one had the "key" (ears to hear), there was no understanding. Often His disciples had to come to Jesus afterward and ask Him, "What did that mean?" On this day Jesus shared with the crowd on the lake shore a story about planting seed and what happened to it as it fell on different kinds of soil. It wasn't really about planting seeds that Jesus was referring to at all, but about how different kinds of people hear God's Word and respond to it. There are some who hear and either don't understand or don't want to understand and consequently the evil one, Satan, comes and snatches the Word away. Another one is like the seed that fell on stony ground. That person, when he hears the Word, it sounds great but soon trouble or persecution comes and because there is no root the plant dies, and he falls away. There is another one and this one is like the seed that falls among thorns. He also hears and embraces the Word but worries about life and wealth strangle it out and soon its back business as usual. The fourth kind of soil is the good, well cultivated soil. The seed is planted, and a bumper crop is the result. The good soil represents the person who hears with understanding. Can one change the kind of soil his life represents? Read Jeremiah 30:13 and Hosea 10:12-13 and think about it. It will depend on how badly you want to change and how radically you are willing to change your priorities. Call on Jesus, He will help you break up the unplowed ground.

You Can Change the Soil