Parable of the Sower – The Rocky Soil
The second soil that the seed lands on in Jesus’ parable of the sower is the rocky soil. This is what Jesus said, recorded in Matthew 13v5+6: “…Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away…” and the explanation of what this meant is found in Matthew 13v20+21: “…As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away…” Let’s dig in and see what this is all about.
So the seed lands in some soil that has loads of rocks in it, and the seed begins to grow but as it does the roots don’t go down very deep (because there’s rocks in the way) so instead of the plant trying to grow it’s roots deeper, it grows up higher. The plant looks like it is thriving, but then there is a hot dry spell, and the plant can’t get water through its roots, because they’re not deep enough to reach it, and the plant withers and dies.
Here is the question; “In what way am I like this soil?” I think that it is obvious that in this parable the plant is us, and the question must be asked then, how are we living. There was a quote that i heard once, something like: ‘As Christians we must always grow inward and downward, before we grow outward and upward…’ If you know the correct quote please leave a comment. However, the gist of it was exactly what Jesus is talking about here in this parable. When we heard the Gospel, and come to salvation, we need to spend time drawing near to God, and growing in Him. All too often people that have heard to Gospel go about radically changing their outward lives, they become more concerned about looking like a Christian, than they are about their relationship with Christ. How many people have you seen who looked like they were on fire for God, and now they are just like the rest of the world, we need to send our roots down deep!
Psalm 1v3 speaks directly to this, as Christians our inward relationship with Jesus is far more important than our outward appearance to the world. It is true that we need to live righteous lives in this world, but righteousness comes from relationship. Remember God is our Loving Father, not our stern headmaster! So now ask yourself the question, what are you more concerned about, how Christian you look to others, or how deep your relationship is with Jesus. Here is possibly the greatest test, how eager are you to spend time reading the Bible? Spending time alone with God in reading your Bible, is like sending your roots down, when the tough times come (scorching heat) you will be firmly fixed in Him.
here, here!
The complete aforementioned quote, dear Adrian, is:
“waai down and firm, naut flat and straight”