Listen Up! The Parable of the Four Soils ....

In today’s passage, Mark 4:1-20, we find that Jesus was teaching an exceedingly large crowd about an enormously important and life changing topic; how the Word of God is received by each individual person. In fact, this teaching was so important that He began by emphatically saying "Listen!..." (Mark 4:4).  Then, rather than using complicated and theological language, He taught the crowd by using a parable (a story they could easily relate to) about farming.  In the paragraphs below, we will briefly examine and summarize the four types of soil presented in this parable, the spiritual significance of each and how each of us should properly respond to the Gospel of God. 

First, we see the hard soil which represents man's hard heart (Mark 4:4, 14-15). By reading Luke 8:11, where this story is also told, we learn that the seed represents God's Word.  And, because this soil (man's heart) was so hard, the seed scattered by Jesus (the sower) lies on the surface and never penetrates. These individuals, like the religious elite who lived in Jesus' day, listen to God's Word with no intent to believe or obey; instead, they listen to disprove and argue against it. Hence, just as the birds in this story snatch the seeds from the hard soil, Satan snatches the Word away from men and women with hardened hearts.

Next, we see the rocky soil of shallow hearts (Mark 4:5-6, 16-17).   This soil represents the people who receive the Gospel in a superficial way without giving serious consideration to the cost of following Christ. However, as soon as they start following, they stop. Why? Because trials expose their rootless faith. In Jesus’ day, an example of this would be the people who cried out “Hosanna” during His triumphal entry into Jerusalem (John 12:12-13), but shouted “Crucify Him” by the end of that same week (John 19:14-16). John explains it this way: "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us" (1 John 2:19).  A present day example would be an individual   who enthusiastically embraces God’s word, but turns away from Christ after receiving a devastating health diagnosis or suffering a job loss. As scripture clearly teaches, the gospel includes both the crown and cross of Christ (1 Peter 5:4, Matthew 16:24) and true Christ followers must accept and embrace both. 

The third soil is the thorny soil of distracted hearts (Mark 4:7, 18-19). In this third soil, the  Word is heard by the recipient, but is choked off due to the deceitfulness of wealth, the cares of the world and lust for other things (Mark 4:18-19). If you find yourself spending more time checking stock prices, doing your favorite hobby or checking on your favorite sports team (or anything else) than in prayer and reading God’s word, you have a distracted heart.  If this describes you, ask God to give you a hunger for His word that exceeds your hunger for this life. We cannot choke out these thorns by our own power – we must treasure Christ to do so. As the Apostle Paul said, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philipians 3:8).  

Finally, we come to the good soil of fruitful hearts, the only soil that is good (Mark 4:8, 20). This fruitful soil hears and heeds the words of our Lord. Let us look together at an example of this. Picture a man in our church. He is not flashy and does not share dramatic updates on social media. When he first started coming, he was angry and his marriage was falling apart. Yet, he kept showing up and reading his Bible, not because it felt good, but because he knew he needed it. Year 1: We watched him bite his tongue when he wanted to lash out. Year 3: He reconciled with his wife. Year 5: He started serving behind the scenes. Year 10: his kids have not yet trusted Christ, but he keeps praying for and loving them. His coworkers ask him to pray for them and their difficulties and his now flourishing marriage is a testimony for all to see. In summary, this man represents the good soil (his receptive heart) where the seed (God’s word) fell and took root. The result is that God, over a period of many years, harvested much fruit from this man's faithfulness. So the question we must all ask ourselves is this: Are you, like this man, the good soil where God, over many faithful years, can produce good fruit? If not, will you become so today and receive God's word into your heart?...

If you would like to know more about this good soil and how to personally receive God's word, click here. 

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