Many times Jesus taught in parables; stories. His way of teaching people is profoundly effective because He uses the physical things we are familiar with to teach us a spiritual truth. It makes the Truth more concrete, easier to remember, and easy to apply to our personal life. Over the next few days, we will take a journey into another field; this time however, it will be the field of our heart! Here we go…
“And He told them many things in parables (stories by way of illustration and comparison), saying, A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and ate them up.” (Mat. 13:3-4) Alright, now we’ll skip a few scriptures and find Jesus giving the meaning of is this parable…“While anyone is hearing the Word of the kingdom and does not grasp and comprehend it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the roadside.” (Mat. 13:19)
Ok, the sower is God (or anyone He uses) and the seed is the Good News of Jesus Christ. “Roadside” is the word Jesus uses to describe the first kind of heart condition. Why does Jesus use the word “roadside” to compare it to our heart? Good question. The soil beside the road would be untilled and packed down hard by people walking on it, thus preventing the seed (the Word) from talking root. It represents the person who hears the Word, but does not understand it due to his hardened heart. This type of heart is unconcerned with the things of God and is completely indifferent to anything spiritual. Additionally, this type of heart doesn’t give the Good News any consideration and in fact finds it to be total foolishness. This is the self-sufficient and self-satisfied heart.
Due to the lack of repentance, the “roadside” heart has now been exposed to Satan’s attack. The “birds” in this story represent Satan who comes and snatches away the seed (the Word of God) because it couldn’t make penetration into the hardened heart. Listen to what God’s word has to say: “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.” (2 Cor. 4:4)
Friends, did you catch that??? Satan’s ultimate goal is to blind people of their sinful condition and the need of salvation. It’s also his desire to blind us from the most beautiful love relationship we could ever have. A relationship with Jesus Christ, the lover of our soul!
This is the condition of the “roadside” heart: It is hardhearted, unresponsive, and stiff-necked. Even as believers in Christ, we can find ourselves unresponsive to the things of God. And if that’s the condition we find our heart in right now, all we need to do is ask God to forgive us of our wayward heart and ask Him to restore the joy of our salvation!
I can certainly remember a time when my heart was hardhearted, unresponsive, and stiff-necked towards the things of God. But let me tell you the Good News! One day, the Sower came and sowed His seed on my “roadside” heart. And once He did, my life was radically transformed and I have never been the same!!! Maybe today, you or someone you know has a “roadside” heart. Take courage! I have some most excellent news for you! God’s Word says, “Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation. The Scripture says, No man who believes in Him [who adheres to, relies on, and trusts in Him] will [ever] be put to shame or be disappointed. The same Lord is Lord over all [of us] and He generously bestows His riches upon all who call upon Him [in faith]. For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord [invoking Him as Lord] will be saved. (Rom 10:9-13)