When we hear the parable of the Sower and the Soils, most of the time we jump immediately to self-diagnosis, wondering which kind of soil we might be. And it is a good thing to be aware of how Satan works in people’s lives. His most powerful tool, as Mark 4:15 says, is simply distraction, an attempt to keep people from really thinking about God’s Word whenever they hear it. And in our era where information is constantly available to everyone, his job is getting easier: how many people will stop to ponder this post before scrolling on?

But Mark 4:17 reminds us that Satan can also use persecution to drive people away from faith in Christ. And even in America we are often tempted to avoid social friction by coasting downstream with an increasingly godless culture, embracing political correctness rather than holding to what Scripture teaches about marriage and family issues, bowing to the god of inclusivity rather than insisting on the exclusive claim of Christ to be the only Lord and Savior.

But we find Satan’s most deceptive attack in Mark 4:19. For how easy it is to let the daily concerns of life crowd out time for prayer and Bible study. How easy it is to let desires for worldly things overshadow our love for Jesus. It’s no wonder that the Church in America has become so unfruitful, having so little impact on our culture.

And Mark 4:20 reminds us that the purpose of the Christian life isn’t just for us individuals to be saved. No, we are saved in order to bear fruit. And fruit contains seeds. And seeds then need to be spread around. In other words, the truly mature Christian becomes a sower of the Word so that others can be saved.

And that’s who this parable is really for: the sowers. After all, Jesus doesn’t say anything about how soils can be improved. He doesn’t tell His disciples to till up the pathways and pile up the rocks into walls and pull up the weeds and thorns. That’s because this parable really isn’t for the crowds: it’s for the disciples (Mark 4:11), as it explains why everyone who hears the Word doesn’t have their lives changed.

So, yes, let’s allow this parable to alert us to Satan’s schemes to pull us away from Christ and His Word. And let’s resolve to get busy about spreading the Word of God with our lips and with our lives. But let’s remember that while we sow, it is God alone Who can prepare the ground for the seed. So we must pray for those who see our actions and hear our words even as we continue to show Christ to them.

Mark 4:1-20 (NASB)

And He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very great multitude gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.
2 And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching,
3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow;
4 and it came about that as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.
5 “And other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil.
6 “And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
7 “And other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
8 “And other seeds fell into the good soil and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
9 And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
10 And as soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables.
11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God; but those who are outside get everything in parables,
12 in order that while seeing, they may see and not perceive; and while hearing, they may hear and not understand lest they return and be forgiven.”
13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables?
14 “The sower sows the word.
15 “And these are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.
16 “And in a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy;
17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.
18 “And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,
19 and the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
20 “And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it, and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”