November 26 – Parable of the Ground – Matthew 13
Parable of the Ground is often called “Parable of the Sower” or “The Sower and the Seed.” A parable is a made up earthly story teaching a spiritual truth. You can tell the difference between a parable and a true story in the Bible, because a parable never used a name and true stories do have at least one name in the story. Jesus often used parables to teach a truth. In this story the seed in the story stands for the Word of God or the Bible. The types of soil mentioned represents the different conditions or the attitude of man’s heart as it is receptive to the Bible. Notice the four types of ground mentioned and the result of God’s Word being shared with each condition. This story should be a challenge to each one of us to check our own heart’s attitude toward the Bible. Which ground are you when hearing the Word of God? Do you dismiss the God’s Word by justifying your actions so as not to change like the “wayside soil?” Or like the “stony ground” do you submit, tolerate, or bend to persecution when your faith is put to the test? Do you become so busy with your schedule that you do not have time to be faithful to church, read your Bible, disciple someone else, join a ministry in church, or many other ways to become a fruit producing Christian like the “thorny soil?” Our desire should be to retain a “good ground” mentality to the Bible all of the time. When we do achieve this, it WILL cause a continual changing in our lives. Christians are to be continually growing.
