In His Parable of the Sower, Jesus described three unfruitful soils of destruction, each representing a condition of the heart with different obstacles to receiving the word of God (see Matthew 13:4-7; 18-22).

The first soil that received seed was “along the path” (Matthew 13:4). This soil was hard. It had been beaten down and compacted from the travelers who had walked on it. The result was no germination of the seed because “The birds came and ate it up” (Matthew 13:4). In His explanation of the parable, Jesus equated this earthly truth with a spiritual one: “When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path” (Matthew 13:18-19).

Because we often hold on to an experience where someone has walked all over us, we harden our hearts and become closed (see Psalm 17:10). Consequently, we often do not understand what Christ is sowing in our lives, and the evil one snatches away Christ’s seed sown in us, despite the Holy Spirit’s cultivation of our hearts.

If you have hardened your heart to Christ’s seed in a particular area of your life, sow. Open your heart to His Spirit who will plow your heart and sow His seed in you. Sow that same seed in others, experiencing the fruit God has for your life and theirs.

Episode 249: Parable of the Sower from mitchkrusetv on Vimeo.