The parable of the sower is the first parable Jesus tells. The first earthly story with a heavenly meaning. The farmer represents Jesus, the seed represents the word or message about the kingdom of God, and the field represents the world in which we live. Jesus came to spread the good news of the kingdom of God to all those who are able to hear.
Now, Jesus uses four different types of soil to symbolise four different conditions of the heart. The first is the hard heart, represented by the path. The path is a footpath, usually formed by the continuous treading or trampling of the ground, which eventually hardens. Some seed fell along the path but was immediately snatched away by the birds. Jesus says this represents “those who hear the message about the kingdom and do not understand it; then the evil one
comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart.”
But first, we must realise that for a heart to become so hardened, it had to be trampled on, crushed, and hurt continuously. A heart that was once open but is now damaged by the hurts of the world has hardened itself for protection. A wall, caged around their hearts. We might only see the wall, but we don't know what caused the wall to be built: hurt, grief, pain, abuse.
Sometimes fear stops us from letting anything in. The enemy uses that to quickly snatch Jesus' message away from the heart before it has a chance to sink in.
For those of us who are aware that our hearts might be hardened by the pain of this world, the first step is letting God unravel the trampled ground of our hearts. To take our hurts and pain to him, so he can unearth the healthy soil beneath the hard surface. So
when the seed is scattered again, our hearts are ready to receive the incredible message he has for us.
Where do you notice walls around your heart?
What pain or hurt do you need to take to God?
Is there a part of you that's not fully open to him yet? Ask yourself why that
is.
