Message
The second kind of soil Jesus described in His parable about the sower is ‘Stony places’. This soil type can be compared to people who receive the word of God with joy but turn their backs on it when they begin to encounter tough situations in their lives as a result of persecution.
Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you…
In the Scripture above, Jesus said that His followers will be persecuted as He was also persecuted. Furthermore, Paul told Timothy in that every true follower of Christ will experience persecution in one form or another. Being persecuted is a painful experience, and believers are not immune to it. In fact, going through the fires of persecution helps Christians to grow in faith (, ). Despite this, however, the devil manages to convince some believers that the pain they are experiencing as a result of persecution is proof that God is unfaithful and that He does not love them. The devil succeeds in doing this because such Christians have not grown in the knowledge of God through His word and are largely ignorant of His ways, character, and power. Thus, their foundation in faith is very weak, and they are easily swayed by the devil.
It is good to hear the word of God and even be excited by it. Beyond that, however, every believer has the responsibility to build themselves up spiritually (), and one of the ways to do this is by increasing their knowledge of God through His word. There is a popular saying that ignorance is bliss, but this is not true for a believer. Being in a state of ignorance about the word of God and making no efforts to build yourself up spiritually is very dangerous because it can lead to destruction ().
Beloved, do not allow yourself to fall victim to the wiles of the devil and be destroyed by him. Don’t just listen to the word of God from various ministers and get excited by it, or be a believer who only opens the Bible on Sundays. Rather, be like the Bereans who took responsibility for knowing God by themselves (). I pray that as you sow the seeds of the word of God daily into your heart, you will reap bountiful fruits of His goodness and mercy, in Jesus’ name.