This is likely—second to the story of Moses—one of my very favorite passages in the entire Bible; let’s talk the Parable of the Sower.

It’s so profound and powerfully descriptive to how the kingdom of heaven starts, and what it is like.

Jesus tells a parable in the New Testament that is referenced in three of the 4 gospel accounts; Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-25, and Luke 8:4-15.

Each writer was inspired by God to include this story with their certain details, and all together, it’s truly amazing, this biblical principle. The Holy Spirit really wants to make sure we do not miss this…

This passage God used to change my life, allowing God to work in the soil of my heart…

I pray right now, that the Holy Spirit quickens this into your practical understanding for you to work out with Him. I pray this jolts His life awake in you, in Jesus’s name.

So let’s dive in.

What is a Parable, anyway?

A parable is a short story that others relate to with one single main point.

In context, what Jesus is doing and what He is beginning to teach His followers here is the understanding of what the kingdom of heaven is like.

Jesus speaks to the crowd and the disciples in parables, and He describes why in Mark 4:11-12…

“And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.’ ””
‭‭Mark‬ ‭4‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/114/mrk.4.11-12.NKJV

The parables are taught by the Holy Spirit

For the believer who is saved—those of us inside the kingdom of God—we have been given the Holy Spirit to understand, to teach, to quicken to us revelation and knowing (1 John 2: 20, 27-28).

“The understanding of parables displays some measure of responsiveness to the Holy Spirit,” (Enduringword.com).

God’s Mercy to the Unbelieving Believer

Lastly, this person I used to be, the ‘unbelieving believer.’ Those that have received Jesus as Savior, and will be with Him in heaven, but just aren’t interested in making Jesus Lord. Those that refuse to let Jesus take the reins.

This is where our choice comes to play as saved souls… you want more?

Ask, and it’s yours.

You don’t want any more of God? He won’t force it beyond your consent.

“The parable conceals truth from those who are either too lazy to think, or too blinded by prejudice to see. It puts the responsibility fairly and squarely on the individual. It reveals truth to him who desires truth; it conceals truth from him who does not wish to see the truth,” (Barclay, Enduringword.com).

“Life is always a process of gaining more or losing more… for weakness, like strength, is an increasing thing,” (Barclay, Enduringword.com).

From my own personal testimony of walking out my own salvation with fear and trembling with Jesus… because most of these parables made little sense to me before I fully surrendered to the Holy Spirit on the deepest heart level.

I maybe understood intellectually, but the parable didn’t really change me, then…

Now they do.

Why is the Parable of the Sower so Important?

Well, Matthew, Mark and Luke all share this story in their individual gospels. But even better than that, Jesus actually tells us in Mark 4:13:

“And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/114/mrk.4.13.NKJV (emphasis mine)

Understanding this parable describes how the kingdom of God begins, the rest of the parables describe what the kingdom of God is like…

God wants us to understand His Word, His kingdom.

He’s not mysterious and hard to understand.

He’s needing you to give Him full access, surrendering to Him all things; He wants you to let Him access all areas of your heart.

Only because He loves you and me…oh, if we could only know how much He actually loves us…

The Soil

What is the soil? The soil is the ground of your heart.

“And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭4‬:‭15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/114/mrk.4.15.NKJV

“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/114/mat.13.19.NKJV

“Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭8‬:‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/114/luk.8.12.NKJV

How receptive, how able are you to understand the Word of God when you read, or when it is preached?

Here are some quotes that stood out to me about this topic:

“the natural tendency is for the audience to critique the preacher. But here, Jesus the preacher critiques His audience. The issue is how well they will hear, not how well He will preach.” (Enduringword commentary, mark 4:13-20)

“Though this is commonly called the parable of the sower, really, it should be called the parable of the soils. The difference is NEVER the seed, but on the kind of soil it falls on.”(enduring word.com commentary)

“O my dear hearers, you undergo a test today! Peradventure you will be judging the preacher, but a greater than the preacher will be judging you, for the Word itself shall judge you.” (Spurgeon)

It brings peaceful relief to my soul to know it was me who was messed up.

Because I know that God can fix me.

God can always fix me.

God is not ever guilty.

We are.

What is the Heart of Man?

The Heart Of Man

The Soil Types:

We know that the soil is our hearts ground.

Next, Jesus starts talking about different types of grounds and their ability, or rather their lack thereof, to produce.

I am explaining the heart ground of the believer here. I do believe that the wayside ground could definitely represent the unbeliever, but it is also applicable to me, as a believer. I’ll explain why soon.

I also believe that this ground is progressive, from wayside being the most hardened, to good soil, as we grow further and further in love with Jesus, and surrender more and more of our heart areas to Him.

The main objective of the Christian Life, is to be loved by Him, to walk with Jesus every day enjoying Him.

Then maybe along the way with Him, we exemplify and demonstrate the Love of God to others here on earth, pointing to Him, glorifying Him in every way so that others would know Him, too.

Jesus described 4 main soil types, as listed here:

Wayside Soil (LINK COMING SOON)

Rocky Soil (LINK COMING SOON)

Thorny Soil (LINK COMING SOON)

Good Soil (LINK COMING SOON)

The Seed

What is the seed?

The seed is God’s Word.

“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.” – Luke 8:11

“And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭4‬:‭26‬-‭28‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/114/mrk.4.26-28.NKJV

“who knoweth, o teacher, when thou laborest even among the infants, what the result of thy teaching will be? Good corn may grow in very small fields.” (Spurgeon)

The Sower

Who is the sower? 

The sower here is the preacher, in this case Jesus.

Here are some more of my favorite quotes about this:

“It wasn’t that the farmer stupidly or carelessly sowed the seeds. In those days, the seed was sown on the ground that was plowed after the seed was cast, so you didn’t know where rocks were or where thorns might grow.” (enduring word.com mark 4 commentary)

“before one can be a sower, he must be an eater and a receiver—and from his Bible the sower brought forth seed.” (enduringword.com- matthew 13)

“It is by preaching that the seed is sown. You can study the seed, categorize the seed, analyze the seed, know the seed, or even love the seed, but if you don’t sow it, preach it, nothing will grow.” (Enduringword commentary Mark 4:13-20)

“But if the seed is the word, then every preacher must make sure he uses good seed. It is a high offense against God to change the Master’s seed, to mix it, or to sow bad seed in the place of it.” (Clarke)

30, 60, 100 Fold (LINK COMING SOON)

Preparing the Ground (LINK COMING SOON)

Maintaining The Ground (LINK COMING SOON)

---