This is the meaning of the parable:  The seed is the word of God.  Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.  Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root.  They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.  The seed that fell among the thorns stands for those who hear,  but as they go on their way they are choked out by life’s worries, riches, and pleasures and they do not mature.  But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it and by persevering produce a good crop.  Luke 8:11-15 NIV

Luke Chapter 8 begins with the parable of the sower.  Jesus speaks of seed that falls on the path, on the rocky ground, among the thorns and on good soil.  His disciples asked him what this parable meant.  Our scripture passage today is Jesus’ explanation of the parable.  My question today is where do you fall?  If you were a seed that the sower went out to scatter, would you be on the path where you would be trampled and eaten by the birds?  Would you have fallen on rocky ground where you were unable to take root? Would you be among the thorns?  Or do you feel that you have fallen on good ground and are persevering and producing a good crop?  Which best describes you.

My prayer for you today is that you are on good solid ground.  We live in a messed up world.  The devil is going along and picking every seed from the path that he possibly can.  He is working hard in churches and families to destroy God’s word.  I can honestly say that I have been in all of the above mentioned places at one time or another.

I was raised in church and raised on God’s word.  My mom dragged me to church every time the doors were open and I must say that it served me well during my teen years and got me through high school without being enticed into sex, drugs, and alcohol.  During this time I was on solid ground.

I entered college, began to work in local law enforcement and strayed from church.  I got married much too young and lived to regret that decision.  I was on the path and easy pickings for the devil at that time.  I would go through periods of my life where my seed would blow onto the rocky ground and I would receive God’s word with joy but then in times of testing, I didn’t do so well.  Then I went through a long period which began about 15 years ago where I had fallen among the thorns.  I allowed life’s riches, worries and pleasures to stand in the way of my relationship with God.

Now the thing about living among the thorns is that it seems as though you are having fun but you are among the thorns, hello?? You are gonna get stuck quite a few times.  So there were times when I thought I was having a good time, but really I was sinning.  Now those of you who know anything about sinning know that it looks good and seems like a good idea at the time, but it only leads to misery.

Just like the parable says, the thorns were choking the life out of me.  I had come to a place in my life where I was so miserable, I had to have relief.  I didn’t want to give up the things of the world, I thought I would be living a life of boredom and not having any fun.  Boy, was I wrong!  I cried out to God and begged Him to help me get my life straight.  I gave it ALL over to Him.  I trusted Him with everything.  I mean after all, I had no choice after the mess I had made of things, right?  He came in like a whirlwind and turned my world upside down.  He shook all the bad stuff out and it just fell right into place.  Isn’t that something?  I love how God works!  He used that whirlwind to blow my seed out of the patch of thorns and onto good, solid ground.

How could I not share this with my friends and loved ones.  I want everyone to experience the love, peace and joy that I have felt over the past 8 years.  I want you to know that whether you feel as though you are on the path being trampled and devoured by the devil, on the rocky ground where you just can’t get a foothold, or among the thorns where the very life is being choked out of you, there is hope.  God can pick you up and put you on solid ground.  He can place you on good, solid ground where you can take root and grow strong.  He can walk you through the fire without even the smell of soot on you (Daniel 3:16-27).  He can part the raging waters so that you can walk through on dry ground (Exodus 14:21, Joshua 4:23).

If you want God to walk you through the fire and the water, you must turn to Him.  You must develop a relationship with Him.  I hope that you realize the urgency of this.  This needs to be done before you are choked out by the thorns.  Romans 1:24 tells us that if we do not turn to Him that eventually He will give us over to our evil desires.  Turn to Him before it’s too late.

Have a great day!