When a large crowd was coming
together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by
way of a parable: “The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some
fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air
ate it up. Other seed
fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because
it had no moisture. Other seed fell among the thorns;
and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. Other
seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred
times as great.” As He said these things, He
would call out, “ He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” His disciples began questioning
Him as to what this parable meant. And He said, “ To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God,
but to the rest it is in parables, so that seeing they
may not see, and hearing they may not understand. “Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. Those beside the road are those who have
heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that
they will not believe and be saved. Those on the
rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and
these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of
temptation fall away. The seed
which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go
on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this
life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the seed
in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and
good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.
There is some disagreement on the meaning of
this parable. I teach that once saved
always saved. In other words, when a
person comes to saving faith, the Holy Spirit indwells the saint forever and
begins a work of sanctification and brings it to fruition.
Jesus declares, nobody can snatch them out
of my hand. Others who read this text
say that those who are of rocky or thorny soil, have faith, but lose it in time
of trial. But that is not what the text
says. Jesus explains to his disciples
that the seed is the “word of God,” not saving faith. And some are not able to perceive it due to
adverse circumstances. It never says
that they had saving faith and lost it.
The reason that one cannot lose faith is because we don’t choose God,
instead He chooses us and does not change His mind about the matter.
Daily Prayer: Father, it is indeed a blessing that You do
the choosing and the bestowing of faith.
Indeed what You do lasts and whatever You do, You bring to completion
for the Day of or deliverance. In Your
holy name I pray Amen.
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