Dirty Weeds

^4-8As they went from town to town, a lot of people joined in and traveled along. He addressed them, using this story: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. Some of it fell on the road; it was tramped down and the birds ate it. Other seed fell in the gravel; it sprouted, but withered because it didn't have good roots. Other seed fell in the weeds; the weeds grew with it and strangled it. Other seed fell in rich earth and produced a bumper crop.

"Are you listening to this? Really listening?" (Luke 8:4-8, The Message)

^11-12"This story is about some of those people. The seed is the Word of God. The seeds on the road are those who hear the Word, but no sooner do they hear it than the Devil snatches it from them so they won't believe and be saved.

¹³"The seeds in the gravel are those who hear with enthusiasm, but the enthusiasm doesn't go very deep. It's only another fad, and the moment there's trouble it's gone.

¹⁴"And the seed that fell in the weeds—well, these are the ones who hear, but then the seed is crowded out and nothing comes of it as they go about their lives worrying about tomorrow, making money, and having fun.

¹⁵"But the seed in the good earth—these are the good-hearts who seize the Word and hold on no matter what, sticking with it until there's a harvest. (Luke 8:11-15, The Message)


This past summer, Beth decided to do some landscaping. We had a small jungle growing in our backyard, so Beth decided to rip these weeds out of the ground. What she didn't realize is that these were not just ordinary weeds. These were weeds that had taken a deep hold in the ground and weren't going down without a fight. I would come home from work for lunch and Beth would have a shovel and gloves and be digging and pulling and digging and pulling and every once in a while she would yell "I got one!!" Seriously, these particular weeds were no joke. What made it so difficult to pull out these weeds? For years, they had been allowed to drive their roots deep into the ground and they didn't plan on going anywhere.

Perhaps that's the kind of root system that Jesus is talking about in the parable of the sower. The seed of the good news has been sown, but depending on where the seed lands depended on how it would grow. The openness of the hearts of those who were going to hear the Good News became really, REALLY important. As you read Jesus' explanation of the parables, which type of soil are you? Have you accepted the Word of God, but rather than allowing God to take hold deep in your life, you've become distracted? Maybe you've put aside a pursuit of God's Word because life got busy or things got tough...or maybe, just maybe, you've allowed God's Word to take a deep hold in your life. You read the Word, you focus on God's Word, and you've allowed God's Word to change you. I hope that we allow and invite God's Word to to deeply infiltrate our lives that God's Word changes us. But, this can only happen if we spend time with God in God's Word. Are you ready to go for it? Are you ready to put down roots??

As you close your time, listen to this song and offer yourself to God to be wholly committed to God.