Four Soils - Matt 13:14-17; Mark 4:14-20; Luke 8:11-15

The Lord gives his own interpretations for this parable of the soil. In Luke He tells us that the seeds cast on the way side and eaten by the birds “are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.” How does the devil take the word out of our hearts? Does Satan have the power to take testimony or spiritual opportunity away from us? JTC makes an important observation about this parable saying, “Observe that the prominent feature of the story is that of the prepared or unprepared condition of the soil. The seed was the same, whether it fell of good ground or bad, on mellow mold or among stones and thistles.” Satan was able to take away the “seed” because there was no place for it to go, it had not been planted or found any suitable place for it. But JTC reminds us that Jesus “neither said nor intimated that the hard-baked soils of the wayside might not be plowed, harrowed, fertilized, and so be rendered productive.” These are the people who are not in any way ready to receive the gospel, and that might be for any number of reasons, but in the eternal perspective there will be softening and preparation.

Jesus says that those seeds that are cast onto the stony places, “are they which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.” The gospel can be a far cry from the natural man, and those who find the gospel after being established in their lifestyle already might struggle even more with making the necessary changes to meet the gospel standards. It is very difficult to change whole aspects of the life that you’ve been living for so long for an idea that you love, but that is new. A lot of work and care and love goes into growing a strong faith that can withstand stronger winds of adversity.

Those seeds that are cast into thorns “are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.” It seems like this is a more advanced stage of spirituality. The soil is good, the heart is relatively softened and has great potential, but there are outside factors that become overwhelming. There are ups and downs in our lives, times of spiritual strength and times of spiritual laxity. When we are spiritually strong, the seeds put down roots, but when we are spiritually “down” then the thorns and weeds come up, because there is little to keep them in check. I feel like this stage is so common among those who have been established in the church for some time, and I feel like this is probably the stage that the Pharisees were at. Spiritually, they were open, but socially and temporally they were susceptible to corruption. If we think about it, we are blessed temporally and spiritually when we are righteous, then we must keep ourselves in check to receive blessings but not let them turn into thorns that will choke out our ability to bring forth good fruit.

I feel like this parable is a step by step guide to how to become righteous fruit bearers. We all first must gain a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. None of us are born with an unshakable testimony, well most of us. I feel like most of us at some point before we are spiritually independent, are all hard packed dirt by the wayside. We are not ready for a variety of reasons. I can think of several individuals right now who are not ready, I know for myself that I spent many years not ready, and any attempt to persuade me otherwise would be the equivalent of throwing seeds at me. But as time and circumstances and the Spirit break up our hardened outer layer, we become more open but still not self-sustaining, we become the rocky soil. The gospel makes us happy, but we still require much tenderness and care and a watchful eye to thrive. As we take greater root and receive more blessings, the challenge then becomes to keep out soil free from weeds and thorns. We must keep ourselves in check by remembering who we are and who everyone else is, daily prayer and scripture study, family home evening, church and temple attendance, and the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.