Four Biblical Steps to Spiritual Growth

If you’re familiar with the Bible, you’ve probably heard the Parable of the Sower a few times before. It’s the one from Matthew 13 where Jesus tells of a Farmer scattering seed, and he describes the different kinds of ground that seed can land on. Some of the seed fell along the path and was snatched up by birds. Some seed fell on rocky ground where it started to grow but didn’t have enough soil to grow roots, so the plant withered. Some seed fell among thorns, which choked the plants. And some seed fell on good soil, where it produced an abundant crop, much more than what was sown.

After sharing this parable, Jesus later explains to his disciples what it means:

The Seed = The message of the Kingdom of God

The Path = People who hear the message but do not understand it

The Rocky ground = People who hear the message and happily receive it but do not grow deep enough roots to stand firm when hardship or persecution comes

The Thorny ground = People who hear the message, but wordly concerns and the allure of material gain chokes it out.

The Good Soil = People who hear the message, understand it, and produce a crop that multiplies what was given to them

It’s tempting to view this story in a general light, simply acknowledging that there are some people who will receive the Word of God and others who won’t. The parable itself can even seem to suggest that we have no control over where God sows his seed or what kind of ground we happen to be. Many who read this parable are likely to breeze right on by, assuming they are the good kind of soil or not even bothering to consider the question at all.

But if we want to avoid being shallow ground, we need to read between the lines here. When we look past the agricultural imagery to what Jesus clearly says it means, it is then that we can see that as people (not plants) who have had the Word of God generously shared with us, we have a choice in how we respond to it.

Once we hear the message, we can:

• Seek to understand it, OR move on without discovering what it actually means.
• Take it in deeply and decide we want to hold to it, even when hardship comes, OR receive it on a feel-good, surface level we will abandon when it’s no longer easy.
• Keep our focus on it, deciding it is more valuable than our other concerns or gaining possessions, OR let it fall by the wayside when shinier things come along or our busy lives beckon us.
• Completely take it in to ourselves, put it to work, and let it produce the fruitful outcome it was intended to, OR miss out on spiritual growth entirely.

To understand this parable, we have to put it into practice! First, we have to seek to understand it, and when we do, we realize that it’s not just up to the Farmer and fate. It’s up to us. We get to choose what kind of soil we are! While seed holds the power, we get to determine whether we’ll be hospitable ground, and that will determine what happens to our spiritual lives- whether they whither or flourish. Sadly, not only will not everyone choose to be good soil, but most will not even understand that they have a choice. Immediately after Jesus told this parable to the crowd, he told the disciples that many people won’t get it. “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.” (Mt. 13:13b) This brings to mind the many times Jesus used the phrase, “He who has ears, let him hear.” Will you hear his message for you? He promises that if you will, you will receive even more (v.12)!

This parable tells us that if we want to be good soil and a fruitful tree, we must hear the Word and then simply do the following:

1. Seek to understand it.
2. Choose to hold onto it in good times and bad.
3. Put it into practice.
4. Keep our focus on Kingdom things.

Friends, it matters what we choose! And not just for us, but for those around us who might be fed by our fruit, who might become our multiplied seed. If we let the opportunity for growth pass us by, we and others might miss out on some essential, beautiful things.

Oh, but wouldn’t it be marvelous to be a part of a fruitful field flourishing for our Father?