Bible Study ESV

The Path, The Rocky Ground, The Thorns, and The Good Soil:

A Comparison of My Life to the Parable of the Sower

    Jesus came into my life in May of 2024. Since then, I have been thinking about the experiences I had when I was a teenager and when I was 25 years old. These experiences led me to believe that I was saved. If anyone would have asked me back then, I would have said that I believed in Jesus and that I was a Christian, but as I read the bible, which is something I did very little of back then, I am beginning to question if my faith was truly in Jesus back then. I am beginning to realize that I have been in unbelief most of my life, even when I thought I believed as a teenager and at the age of 25 years old. I have been asking myself since May of 2024, am I really one of the lost sheep that was found? Or am I really a prodigal son returning home? Or was I never truly a sheep or a son, until now? I have been restless about these questions, so I decided to compare myself to the Parable of the Sower to see if I could understand. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” I intend to examine my past experiences with the Parable of the Sower because this will help me to understand my past and will help me to understand the changes in my life now as a born again believer in Jesus.

    The Parable of the Sower is in Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, and Luke 8:4-15. The “path,” the “rocky ground,” the “thorns” and the “good soil” are different soils that represent people, but more specifically, the soils represent the openness of a person’s heart to God’s word. The “path” is the hardest soil. The “rocky ground” is hardened with rock underneath and a thin layer of soil on top. The “thorns” have good soil, but the soil is full of many different weeds. And the “good soil” is the one that has taken in the seed and the seed has sprouted into a plant that is producing fruit. However, the hardened “path” can be tilled, and the rocks can be removed from the “rocky ground,” and the weeds can be pulled from the “thorns.” This is only possible through the Holy Spirit. But, the “good soil” can also become hardened, or rocky, and even weedy. This happens because people have free will. People respond to God’s word at different times in their lives. So, people can be each soil during different times within their lifetime. To show this, I will compare parts of my life history to the different soils.

Parable of the Sower in Matthew

    In Matthew 13:1-9, we read, “That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”

Jesus Explains the Parable of the Sower

    In Matthew 13:18-23, we read, “Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

The Sower

    In Mark 4:14, the “sower sows the word.” The sower represents someone who believes in the word and who tells others about the word. We see this in 1 Corinthians 3:6, when Paul said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul saw himself as a sower, and Apollos as a teacher, and that only God can provide the growth. I ask myself, how does one become a sower? I tend to think of a sower as someone like Paul, who traveled to many places and talked with many people in their communities. This method continues today and is still profitable in making disciples, but I think it comes down to two things. What are you good at? And to be a light no matter where you are. Are you good at writing, or at teaching, or at music, or at using humor, or at giving, or at leading others? Whatever your abilities, use your abilities wherever you are. Whether, you are with family, at work, with friends, or traveling, or whether you are called to be a missionary in Cambodia. There will be hard choices to be made. You will make many mistakes. You will never be fully prepared. You will learn as you go. God can use your weaknesses for his glory. And as you sow seeds, seek treasures in heaven, not the treasures of this world.

    We see an example of a sower sowing seed in Acts 16:29-32 with Paul and Silas preaching the word, until they were beaten and jailed for casting out a demon from a girl. While in the prison, there was an earthquake causing the prison doors to open. After the earthquake, the jailer was about to take his own life, until Paul called out to him. Then, “the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.” The jailer knew that Paul and Silas were teaching a message that had to do with salvation because he asked, “what must I do to be saved?” He must have known their message before the earthquake. What this means is that a seed had already been sown before he jailed Paul and Silas in the prison. Seeing that Paul and Silas had not escaped meant something important to the jailer, not only for his life. Maybe it was because he saw that Paul and Silas lived according to what they were teaching about Jesus by not running away to save themselves. How is it that the jailer responded with openness and the desire to know and not with violence and duty right after the earthquake? It’s because God provided the growth. The jailer humbled himself and wanted to know how to be saved. He set aside what he had been taught in his culture and community. He set aside his role as a jailer. Not only was the jailer’s life saved from taking his own life, but the jailer’s life was saved eternally because he believed in the message of the sowers, Paul and Silas. To be saved, Paul and Silas said to the jailer “believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

The Seed

    In Luke 8:11, the “seed is the word of God.” The seed represents God’s word. In John 1:1-2, we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” Here we see that the “Word” is Jesus. And we see that Jesus is the “beginning” of all things, and that Jesus is with God, and that Jesus is God. And since in John 1:18, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.” Then Jesus, who is the “only God, who is at the Father’s side,” has made the Father known to us in his “Word.” Jesus is the “Word” and Jesus is the seed. The sower gets the seed from Jesus. Without Jesus, the sower would not have the seed. Without the seed, we would not have God’s word. Without God’s word, we would not know God. Without the seed, no one would be saved.

    Notice that the seed falls on every soil, so God does not exclude anyone from his word. According to Peter in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” God desires that no one “should perish” and that “all should reach repentance.” But, Jesus said in John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” According to Jesus, the Father draws people to him. According to Peter, God does not want anyone to perish. And according to Jesus, the seed falls on every soil. Since the seed falls on every soil, then the Father draws everyone to Jesus because the Father does not want anyone to perish. Since the Father does not want anyone to perish, then the choice is up to the individual. The choice is to remain in unbelief, or to recognize that what you believe is not the truth and to decide to believe in the truth. To “reach repentance,” anyone must recognize that they are in unbelief and that they need to move from unbelief to belief. The jailer was in unbelief until he heard the word spoken by Paul and Silas. Before he heard the word spoken by Paul and Silas, he believed in what he had learned from his family and community. But then he recognized that the truth was not in himself, so he asked Paul and Silas, “what must I do to be saved?”

    Repentance is to recognize that what you believe is false, but then a change happens and you decide to believe in the truth. This sounds simple, but it’s not an easy thing to do because we have convinced ourselves that what we believe is the truth. Jesus said in Revelation 21:6-7, “And he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.’” According to Jesus, one must be “thirsty” and one must be the “one who conquers.” There is a relationship here between God and the one who is “thirsty” and the “one who conquers.” God will freely give eternal life to the person who is “thirsty” and to the “one who conquers.” I ask myself, what does it mean to be “thirsty,” and what does it mean to be the “one who conquers?” They both involve repentance, that is to recognize that what one believes in, is false and then decide to leave that belief, in order to believe in the truth. One must be “thirsty” for the truth to find the truth. One must ask, seek, and knock for the truth. One must recognize that the truth is not in them. When anyone does this, they humble themselves. When anyone does this, they are the “one who conquers.” Jesus said, in John 10:7-9, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” The “door of the sheep” is Jesus. There are many doors one conquers when they choose the one door in Jesus. The jailer was “thirsty” to know what he must do to be saved. The jailer conquered the many doors that told him to believe in something else. How did he recognize the truth? It’s because he listened to the Father drawing him. Only God can provide the growth. 

The Path

    The “path” are people who hear the word, but they quickly lose the word that was sown in them. We see this in Luke 8:12, “The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.”  The people of the “path” hear the word, and the word is sown in them, but as soon as they hear the word, and as soon as the word is sown in their hearts, the word is taken away by the devil. It seems that when someone hears the word, that is a critical moment. And this can mean for the first time or the twentieth time.

    There are two reasons why the people of the “path” lose the word that is sown in them. The first reason is the devil. The devil is responsible for the people of the path losing what was sown in their hearts. I ask myself how is this possible? Paul offers a possible explanation in Ephesians 2:1-3, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” The “course of this world” is under the control of a “prince,” who is a “spirit,” and who works in the “sons of disobedience,” who live for their “passions” and “desires.” The influence that this “prince” has on the “course of this world” is that people live for themselves. Then, what this could mean for the people of the “path” is when they hear the word, they reject the word because they don’t want to give up their “passions” and their “desires” of this world, which explains why people of the “path” lose the word so quickly.

    This reminds me when I was 17 years old, I went to church for Christmas service with my parents. When I was sitting inside the church, I had a thought, like I was being asked if I was ready to follow Jesus. I said, “No, not now.” Because I had a girlfriend and I liked to party with my friends. I had plans, and I knew that following Jesus would mean that I would have to give up the lifestyle I enjoyed. I followed the “course of this world” and the “prince of the power of the air” because I lived for the “passions of [my] flesh” and the “desires of [my] body and mind.” If you would have asked me if I believed in Jesus, I would have said, “Yes!” I would have called myself a Christian, but as I look back now, I did not know Jesus and I was not following Jesus. The god I actually followed was the “prince” of this world. The “prince” of this world encouraged me to follow my own path and to make god into my own image. That is, to believe that my god was okay with my choices and my lifestyle and my understanding of him. My faith was in myself, not in Jesus. If my faith was in Jesus, I would have said, “Yes, I will follow you.” My heart was far from Jesus when I was 17 years old, and I didn’t even know it.

    Jesus said, the one who is “thirsty” and the “one who conquers” will receive eternal life. When I was sitting inside that church, and I had that thought of being asked if I was ready to follow Jesus. I was not “thirsty” to know God. I was not the “one who conquers” through Jesus Christ. I believed only in words. I lived only for myself. I did not humble myself. I believed I already had the truth. To have been “thirsty” for the truth, I would have set aside my plans. I would have asked, like the jailer, “what must I do to be saved?” The Father was drawing me, like Jesus said in John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” But, I said “No, not now.” This is not a part of a spiritual journey. This is far more real and serious than any spiritual journey. It’s a choice between choosing the world that will please you, or choosing God, who will enrich you far beyond what this world has to offer. If I had died, I would have been eternally separated from the love of God because my trust was in a god of my own thinking. I lived my life with no thought of God. I didn’t look to God, though I said I believed. My heart knew there was a God, but in my heart I followed myself and the world. There is something about faith that is more than saying one believes in this or that. That is why Paul encouraged believers to stand in their faith and to not believe in vain, and to have the same mindset as Jesus and to not follow the ways of the world. Faith is more than just words that come out of your mouth. To say, “I believe in Jesus,” but then you live for yourself is to claim to have one foot in this world and one foot with Jesus. This is an impossible claim. To have one foot in this world is to have both feet in this world.

    The second reason the people of the “path” lose the word is because they do not understand the word. To not understand the word has nothing to do with intelligence, but rather because we live for this world, we are blinded by it. When I was 17 years old and sitting in that church, I understood what I had to give up to follow Jesus, but I did not understand that to follow Jesus was the better choice. I was not blinded by what my choices were. I was blinded from knowing which choice was better because my understanding was focused on myself and in the lifestyle I wanted to live in. My understanding was not focused on knowing God. I did not understand this because I was blinded by what I wanted. This world is not what we should be living for because it is a lie that will lead us away from the truth that is in Jesus. And what is the truth in Jesus? The truth in Jesus is love. Love is to sacrifice yourself. The opposite of love is to live for oneself. That is why the “course of this world,” which is controlled by a “prince,” leads us to live for our own “passions” and “desires.” When we live for ourselves, we move away from God. The course of this world tells us that love is emotions and love is physical and love is material things that please the self, but these are all lies. Love is sacrifice of the self.

    What is the difference between understanding the way of this world and understanding the way of God? I think Paul answers this in 1 Thessalonians 2:13, “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” To understand seems to require three things. The first is to distinguish between the word of man and the word of God. The second is to make the conscious decision to accept God’s word, and when you accept God’s word, you will receive it in your heart. This sounds simple, but in reality it is hard because the way of this world dominates us. The way of this world is the way of the self. And the way of the self is in everyone’s heart. The third is after you accept God’s word, it is “at work” within you. This is the Holy Spirit working in you, leading you to die to yourself. When you die to yourself, you will live for Jesus. This is how you understand the way of God. You die to yourself. But in order to live in the way of God, you have to leave the way of the world or way of the self. To do this requires faith. If your faith is in yourself, then your faith is not in Jesus. You cannot both live for yourself and deny yourself. This is why many people are hardened against the truth because they don’t want to deny themselves, so they reject Jesus or they decide to accept that they can believe in both Jesus and the world, but their faith in Jesus is no faith at all because they are just following their own “passions” and “desires,” which prevents them from recognizing the truth. How does one overcome the rule of the self? The one who is “thirsty” and the one who finds truth in Jesus Christ. There is only one truth and that truth is in Jesus. Who is the Word. And who is the only true God with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Can the People of the Path be Saved?

    If they couldn’t be saved, I wouldn’t be writing this study. I want to tell you how hardened I was as an atheist. In 2020, when I was 55 years old, I had a minor stroke. After my symptoms had normalized, I was waiting in the ER for the nurse to take me to a hospital room. A man approached me and said he was a Chaplin and he wanted to know if I wanted to talk. I said, “No!” I was surprised and offended and angry that he approached me. He saw the look on my face and turned around and left, and I quickly forget about him. As I look back on that experience, I can see that even when I thought I might die, I had no thought of God. And when God did approach me in the Chaplin, I wanted nothing to do with him. I now ask myself, “Why was I surprised, offended, and angry?” I ask this because if I truly believed there was no God, then I should not have been surprised, offended, and angry. What I see now, is that I was actually giving recognition to God because I was surprised, offended, and angry. What this means is in my mind, I had convinced myself there was no God, but in my heart I knew there was a God, even if my heart wasn’t open to God. What this means is I was without excuse because I am a part of God’s creation.

The Miracle of God Saving Me

    In 2024, when I was 59 years old, I watched a video that challenged my belief in evolution. Evolution was the foundation of my belief in Atheism. I watched a man named Stephen C Meyer talk about how there is no evidence of mutations leading to new structures within cells, that lead to new species. I had never heard anyone say this, but I knew it was true. And, so I began to doubt my belief in evolution. After watching that video, I spent the next few weeks thinking to myself, “I think I’m coming back to God.” Before I was an atheist, I had believed in God, but I now know that the god of my past was a god of my own creation, so I wasn’t coming back to God, I actually just beginning to know the only true God. Then a second video appeared on my You Tube page. It was a debate between a Christian and an atheist. I almost didn’t watch it, but by the end of the video, I believed the Christian. I began to weep because I knew I rejected God, who loved me and died on the cross for me. Also because I had believed in the lie of atheism for many years. Then, in that moment, I knew God was before me. My attention shifted from myself to God, but I did not see or hear God. The best way I can describe it is say you are in a room with your back to door. You hear someone walk into the room. You cannot deny that someone walked into the room. This is how it was except I did not see or hear God. I just knew. There was a thought in my mind that said, “This is what you did.” And I said, “I’m sorry,” over and over and I wept uncontrollably. In that moment I went from being an atheist, who thought he was coming back to God, to a man who believed in God. That morning, my wife and daughter went to work, I was an atheist. That evening, when they came home, I was preaching them the gospel.

    How was God able save me? It’s because God will not force you to accept him, but he draws everyone to him. In order for this to happen, you have to humble yourself. I humbled myself enough to watch a video that challenged my belief in evolution. I humbled myself enough to accept that what I believed about evolution was false. I humbled myself enough to want to come back to God. I humbled myself enough to believe the Christian in the debate. I humbled myself enough to understand that I have sinned against God and that I needed him to save me. I accepted that God loved me and he sent his Son, Jesus to die for me. Like the jailer, who Paul and Silas led to Jesus, I set aside my beliefs and I wanted to be saved. How is it that I humbled myself and I understood? It’s because only God can provide the growth, but that can only happen if you open the door. If you seek, you will find because the Father draws everyone to him. You have to humble yourself, which is against the way of this world. The way of this world is to follow your own “passions” and “desires,” which will lead you away from God. God made his presence known to me in a stronger way than when I was 17 years old. I changed in an instant and asked God to forgive me. Without the Father drawing me, I never would have changed. When I was 17 years old, I said, “No!” When I was 59 years old, I said, “Yes!” The Father draws everyone to him.

The Rocky Ground

    The people of the “rocky ground” accept God’s word with “joy,” but they only last a short time. We see this in Luke 8:13, “And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.” And in Mark 4:16-17,  “And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.” We can see that the people of the “rocky ground” understand the word because they have accepted the word. They believe the word. They believe that Jesus died for their sins and saved them from destruction. Yet, they “fall away” within a short time after hearing and accepting the word. The people of the “rocky ground” have “no root in themselves,” and in a “time of testing” or in a time of “tribulation or persecution,” they quickly fall away.

    I think there are four reasons why the people of the “rocky ground” fall away. The first is because they experience overwhelming “joy.” To them, their “joy” will feel like their connection with God. But over the course the following days, weeks, or months, their “joy” will fade. When their joy fades, they will believe that God is leaving them or that God doesn’t care about them. The second reason the people of the “rocky ground” fall away is because they have “no root.” They do not grow roots that mature in the Lord because they know little about the Lord. For a short time, they may seek to know Jesus, but they are too caught up in their “joy.” And when their “joy” fades, they stop reading the bible and associating with other believers. They will return to the way of life they lived before the “joy” entered their lives, and they will forget about the Lord. The third reason the people of the “rocky ground” fall away is because of a “time of testing” or of a time of “tribulation and persecution.” Because their “joy” fades, they believe the Lord has left them to face a hardship or a challenge alone, so they quickly fall away. They feel abandoned by the Lord and become bitter. The fourth reason the people of the “rocky ground” fall away is because there is a hardness about them that is underneath a shallow depth of soil. Their shallow soil has richness in it, but the hardness underneath prevents growth. And after their “joy” fades, their underlying hardness leads to resentment and anger, and feeling hurt toward God.

    This reminds me of when I was 25 years old. I was full of joy for the Lord. I read the New Testament. I joined a bible teaching church. I went to bible studies. I got baptized. I went with my pastor to the bus stop to witness to people. I witnessed to a Jehovah’s Witness in his home. I told many people at work that I believed in Jesus. I told my parents during Christmas. I was beginning to build relationships with the brothers from my church. I was leaning toward becoming a pastor. But, after a few months, the intense joy I had felt was gone. To compensate for the loss of my joy, I believed that the Lord would give me a gift, like of tongues or of prophecy. So, I asked the brothers to lay their hands on me and to pray over me, to ask God to give me the gift he wanted me to have. After it was done, nothing changed. I was angry at the Lord and I believed he had left me, so I decided to leave him.

    After a few months had passed, I was walking through a shopping center parking lot and my former pastor pulled up next to me in his car. He was so happy to see me and asked me where I had been? I told him I didn’t believe anymore. The happiness fell from his face. He asked me why? I don’t remember my answer. He reminded me of my faith in Jesus and of the things we had done together. He was pleading for me to come back. I turned and walked away. He shouted to me, “Dennis, you will go to hell!” I turned to him and said, “I don’t care.” I walked away and at the end of the parking lot, I turned to look back, and he was still sitting in his car where I had left him. The hardness of my heart reminds me of Hebrews 12:15, we read, “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ‘root of bitterness’ springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.” The root that grew in me was of bitterness. A short time after seeing my former pastor in the parking lot, I returned to the “prince” of this world. Then, in my thirties, I became Roman Catholic for a short time because I thought it would please my parents and my wife. Then, I began to question God’s existence for many years. Then after learning about evolution, I became an atheist for 16 years.

    When I think of myself as the “rocky ground” many years ago, I think of that intense “joy” that faded and I think of that underlying hardness, which prevented my growth and my maturing. I can see now that my underlying hardness was there because of the abuse I experienced as a child. I blamed God for everything that was bad in my life, that was bad in me, and that was bad in the world. I can see now that God is not to blame. We are to blame because of sin. We are separated from the goodness of God because of our sins. We know how to be good, but this does not make us good. The truth is, is that we are evil. And this is why God emptied himself by becoming a man and died on the cross for the sins of whosoever believes to save us from ourselves. This is love.

    There are a few additional points I’d like to say that contributed to my falling away. One was after I finished reading the New Testament, I decided I wasn’t going to read the bible again because I believed I knew enough from one reading. This is why I had no root in my shallow soil. When Jesus taught people, he told them parables and then went off to the next community. Many people were left wondering what he meant. We are blessed to have the writings of the eyewitnesses and of the eyewitnesses to the eyewitnesses compiled into the bible, so we can study and get to know God. I encourage you to read the bible. I encourage you to study the bible. I encourage you to always study the bible. The second poor decision I made was, after I finished reading the New Testament, I decided to look to people to teach me about Jesus. My rationality was that I knew I was an infant in Christ, and I thought it would be easier for me to learn from people who knew the bible. It didn’t take long until I encountered someone who said all roads lead to God. I respected this person, but I knew what he said conflicted with what Jesus said in the bible. I was conflicted about which side to choose, until I decided to go with what the person had told me because I didn’t want to go against him. I rationalized that maybe I didn’t understand what I had read in the bible. The third poor decision I made was, I knew I had to forgive people who had hurt me and I knew I had to seek forgiveness from those whom I had hurt. I just couldn’t do it. Forgiveness is not an easy thing to do, but in Matthew 6:14-15, Jesus said, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” If you cannot forgive. If you cannot seek forgiveness, I urge you to seek help from God. Pray to God about it constantly. Don’t give up on it. Ask your brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for you. The final poor decision I made was, I stopped praying. I didn’t pray much during this time to begin with. I didn’t develop a practice of praying. When I did pray, I often asked why I didn’t have something or why bad things happened to me. I urge you to develop a practice of prayer because prayer is important for a relationship with God. And when you pray, seek to know God’s will and pray for others.

Are the People of the Rocky Ground Saved?

    When I was 25 years old and full of joy for the Lord, I certainly was “thirsty” and it certainly looked like I was the “one who conquered” by putting my faith in Christ Jesus, but as I look back, was my faith really in Jesus, or was my faith actually in myself? Can someone profess to believe in Jesus, but their faith actually be in themselves or in someone else or in a religion? The answer is yes because while I professed to believe in Jesus, I followed my own way. I chose to stop reading the bible and to look to other people to lead me. I chose to follow someone I respected, who said there are many ways to God, instead of following what Jesus said. I chose to not to forgive people and I chose to not to seek forgiveness. I chose to not pray much. I chose to focus on the joy I felt, instead of focusing on Jesus. I chose to manipulate the bothers of my church to pray over me. I chose to dare to try to manipulate God to give me a gift to replace the joy I had lost. After I was baptized, I looked up to the sky and said to God, “I did this for you.” How arrogant of me to believe God needed anything from me. To be baptized is for other people to witness. It is a symbol of dying to one’s old life, being buried, then rising to a new life in Christ Jesus. My baptism did not symbolize this because my faith was not in Jesus. My faith was actually in myself. Like when I was 17 years old, I said I believed in God, but my faith was in myself and in the ways of this world.

    Are the people of the “rocky ground” saved? When I look at my case, I don’t think they are saved. The people of the “rocky ground” fall away because of a “time of testing” or of a time of “tribulation or persecution.” For myself, it was a “time of testing.” This “time of testing” sifted me, like wheat. I had the appearance of fruit, but once the “joy” faded, I became disappointed at God and decided that I knew better than God, so I left him. The one thing I can see that would have prevented my falling away was if I had humbled myself and stayed in God’s word in the bible. If I had kept myself in God’s word, I would have learned what faith in Jesus actually meant, and I would have withstood the testing of the joy that faded into a normal state of being. If I had stayed in God’s word, I would have sought help and encouragement from other believers. And I would have avoided looking to people as a shortcut to know God. If I had stayed in God’s word, I would have moved from the rocky ground to the good soil.

The Thorns

    We see the people among the “thorns” in Matthew 13:7, “Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.” Thorn plants grow very well in many conditions and they grow everywhere. Thorn plants often have barbs, or spikes, or little sharp hairs, or hooks that protect them. Thorn plants tend to grow in thick patches, taking up all the soil. Thorn plants tend to crowd out all other plants from the sun. I have a raspberry patch in my backyard. They grow several feet in height. They grow thickly together. Any plant that grows among them are crowded out or are stunted. The big leaves of the raspberry patch make a canopy, blotting out the sun from other plants. When the wind blows, the raspberry’s thorns stab and scratch other plants. Most of the plants that do manage to grow among my raspberry patch are small and fragile, hiding under the canopy of thorns and leaves.

    I think the “thorns” themselves are people who follow the way of this world. I think the seeds that are planted among the “thorns” and that grow among the “thorns” are people who say they believe in Jesus, but these people are stunted plants that don’t bear any fruit because they are under the canopy of this world. These people are distracted by the fruit of the “thorns,” so they participate with the “thorns” to gain something, like wealth and power. These people do not follow Jesus. They follow the way of this world. The way of this world is like a raspberry patch that dominates the soil. The way of this world is like a raspberry canopy that blots out the truth. The way of this world is like a raspberry patch that bears it’s own fruit. The way of this world is like a thorn that will draw blood if it thinks it’s being threatened. Jesus said in John 15:18-21, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.” The people among the thorns love this world. They claim to believe in Jesus, but they do not want this world to hate them. The truth is that they only live for this world.

    This world says that there are many paths that lead to God. When I was 25 years old, I chose to follow a man who told me there are many paths that lead to God. I did this because it felt right to me and I didn’t want to go against him. I also did this because it felt right to me to not offend people because many people follow different religions. I would think, “How could so many people be wrong.” And I would think, “Every religion is evidence for God.” But Paul said in Romans 1:19-21, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” All of creation knows God. This means all of humanity knows God. This means that the way of this world should be the way of God. Yet, every religion says something different about God. There are so many different gods in every religion. This is because all of these gods are all created by people. Instead of seeing what can known about God, people make God fit into their own ideas about God. According to Paul, God’s “invisible attributes” and “eternal power” have been shown by him in all of creation. God should be plainly evident to us, but we are blinded by our “passions” and “desires.” God gave us dominion of this world after he created it, but we gave up our dominion of this world to Satan because we went against God. We have the illusion of control of this world, but the reality is that we live within a dominion of darkness that is leading us to live for our own “passions” and “desires.” Instead of this world following the way of God, it follows the way of Satan. We become like Satan and make God into whatever we desire because this is acceptable to the way of this world. This is why we should not follow what the many say about God. We should follow only the One who has told us the truth about the only true God.

Are the People of the Thorns Saved?

    When I consider myself when I was 25 years old, I said I believed in Jesus, but I chose to follow a man who said there are many roads to God. Not only that, but I chose to follow what the many said about God. As I look back now, I can see that I believed in vain. I believed in a false Jesus, while claiming to believe in the true Jesus. This false Jesus of mine accepted everyone into eternal life, no matter what they believed because I reasoned that people could not all be wrong about God. Instead of following Jesus, I followed myself. I believed myself as knowing the truth. I put myself above God. According to Jeremiah 17:9,

“The heart is deceitful above all things,
    and desperately sick;
    who can understand it?”

    I don’t think we understand what it truly means to go against God. I don’t think we understand just how bad our sinful nature is. We are so sick, that even when we think we are doing good, we are are doing evil. We are truly blind to the truth. This is why we need a savior. The Father has made himself known to us in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said of himself in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” I don’t think the people among the “thorns” are saved because they do not understand that Jesus is the only way to the Father in heaven. Instead, they look to the world to believe. They do this, so that they can continue to live for themselves and for this world. Their identity is in this world. If I had decided to challenge the man who told me there are many paths to God by going back to the bible to answer my doubts, then I would have come to understand the truth if I was honest. But I didn’t see the bible as the authority. I saw the world as the authority.

The Good Soil

    The people of the “good soil” is what every follower of Jesus desires to be. In Mark 4:8, we read, “And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” The “good soil” are people who believe in Jesus. They understand that Jesus died on the cross to redeem anyone who believes. They understand that since Jesus has taken their sins and has given them his righteousness, they no longer belong to themselves and this world. Their passion and desire is to continue in faith in Jesus. To love God above all and to love others as God has shown them. To die to themselves and live as God created them. To go and preach and teach the word to make disciples. Notice that the “good soil” is the exact opposite of the way of this world.

    The “good soil” reminds me of the Parable of the Talents. In Matthew 25:14-30, we read, “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more.  But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

    Every soil has been given abilities by God, like the master who entrusted his property to his servants. The servant who was given 5 talents and the servant who was given two talents, both of them yielded a hundredfold, and the master rewarded them with more, “for to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance.” The “good soil” is the one that uses the abilities given to them to bear much fruit. But the bad soils; the hardened path, the thin soil with rock underneath, and the soil dominated by thorns are like the servant with one talent, who buried his talent because he believed the master was a “hard man.” He believed it was unjust of the master to ask more of him. His faith was not in his master, but in himself because he believed he knew better than his master. Instead of following his master, he followed his own desire, which was to serve himself. He saw his master as a thief because he didn’t want to give the master the fruit of his talent. He was “afraid” of his master because he did not know his master. So, the master took this servant’s one talent from him and gave it to the one with ten, and he “cast the worthless servant into outer darkness.” But notice that the master doesn’t take the talents when settling accounts. The one with five talents, now has ten, then eleven. The one with two, now has four. Even if the servant with one talent had earned thirtyfold on his one talent, the master would have allowed this servant to “enter into the joy of your master.” Even if this servant had earned “interest,” the master would have said, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” The “good soil” sets aside their selfish ambitions and their vain conceits to value others above themselves. They do this because they do this for their master, not for themselves. They recognize that their talents are not for selfish ambition, but for God’s purpose, which is to love God above all and to love others as God showed us in Jesus.

    Everything of who we are, as a creation of God, is a gift from God. We have been given many gifts. We have been given many abilities that belong to God. He has given them to us to use for the benefit of others. When we use them for ourselves, we only serve ourselves. Either we reward ourselves or we seek our reward from our master. Like the servants in the Parable of the Talents, we have been given the freedom to use our talents as we desire. We can use our talents to suit ourselves, or we can use our talents to serve God, who will reward us far beyond anything in this world.

    After Jesus saved me in May of 2024, I have been asking myself, “Was I really a lost sheep?” “Was I really a prodigal son returning home?” The answer is, “No.” I was never a lost sheep or a prodigal son because I followed my own “passions” and “desires.” I followed the “prince” of this world. I began writing this study with the intent to show that I was a lost sheep and that I was a prodigal son because that is what I hoped for, but as the study progressed, and took longer than I expected, I began to understand that I have been in unbelief most of my life, even when I thought I believed. It’s been a sobering experience because had I died during that time, when I thought I believed I would have said,”Lord, Lord, did I not believe in you, and did I not do many good deeds for you?” Then Jesus would have said to me, “I never knew you; depart from me, you worker of lawlessness.” In 1 John 3:4, the apostle John said, “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness, sin is lawlessness.” The reason Jesus would have called me a “worker of lawlessness” is because he didn’t know me to cover my sins for me. In 1 John 3:6, the apostle John said, “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.” He didn’t know me because I believed in a false Jesus. He didn’t know me because I believed in this world. He didn’t know me because my faith was in myself. Because he didn’t know me and I didn’t know him, my sins were not forgiven. Jesus is truth. He will not accept our lies.

Examine Yourself

    In 1 John 2:15-17, we read, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” And what is the will of God? Jesus said in John 6:39-40, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” After you believe that Jesus died for you, what is next? Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” What are Jesus’ commandments? In Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Notice that Jesus’ commandments are the exact opposite of “following the course of this world, and following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

    To believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins is more than words. To believe in something requires change. To believe is not a collection of beliefs. To believe is not to say you believe, but then to live without any thought of God. To believe is not to say you believe, but then make God into a god of your own choosing. To believe requires an exchange, your life in exchange for his life. Either you believe or you are in unbelief, even if you don’t realize you are in unbelief. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

    I encourage you to examine yourself. Salvation comes by faith alone in Jesus. The change in your life is a result from your faith in Jesus. The change is a result of you receiving. The change doesn’t save you, but is evidence of your faith in Jesus. When you believe in Jesus, you give him your confidence that he alone has saved you. But if you say, “I believe, and I’m going to do what I want,” then your belief is in yourself, not in Jesus. If you say, “I believe, and I must be good,” then your belief is in yourself, not in Jesus. If you say, I believe, and I do good things,” then your belief is in yourself, not in Jesus. You are saved by belief alone in Jesus, that he died for you. The change of dying to yourself and of living in Christ is evidence that your faith is true. The change doesn’t add anything to your salvation because salvation is only found in Jesus Christ. The change in your life doesn’t come from you, it comes from God.

    May the Grace and Mercy of God be with you.