“Those who hear the message about the Kingdom but do not understand it are like the seeds that fell along the path. The Evil One comes and snatches away what was sown in them” (Matt. 13:19).
The condition of our heart determines how deep the Word can take root, how far the Word can grow, and how much of the Word can produce fruits in our lives.
In Matthew 13, Jesus gave a parable about a sower who sowed the seeds of the Word. And Jesus explained that the Word that was sown was the Word of the Kingdom, not the Word about the Kingdom.
“Listen, then, and learn what the parable of the sower means. Those who hear the message about the Kingdom …” (Matt. 13:18-19).
King James Version’s translation:
“Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, …” (Mat. 13:18-19).
Pay attention, the terms used are: the Word of the Kingdom (the Word that comes from the Kingdom/throne of God), not the Word about the Kingdom.
The Word that comes from the Kingdom/throne could not be conveyed by anyone. That person must be a messenger of the Kingdom, believed by the King himself to be His representation to address the King’s decree.
If what is echoed is the King’s decree, then it will soon be revealed the kind of heart soil of his audience. If after all this time the heart condition of congregation has never been revealed is because what is echoed is not the Words ‘of’ the Kingdom/throne, but only information ‘about’ the Kingdom.
The first heart soil condition that is highlighted by Jesus is the way side heart soil. A person who has a way side heart soil condition is a person that when he hear the Word of the Kingdom will bring out these conditions:
1. No understanding of the Word that is conveyed.
One does not understand not because his lack of education or he is brainless. Because when it comes to understand the word, the problem is not the ‘brain’ but the ‘heart’.
If the condition of one’s heart is good, then when the Word is conveyed, he will be able to accept it and the Holy Spirit will give him understanding. There will be a spirit of wisdom and revelation that work.
If the Word that is conveyed is the King’s decree, then the whole authority of the Kingdom will support that Word.
So if his heart condition is good, there is no reason for someone not understanding the word of the Kingdom. The reason why he does not understand was that his heart condition is a “way side” heart.
If you still have the kind of way side heart soil, you should immediately seek all sorts of ways to turn your heart soil into a good heart soil. Because the Word of the Kingdom can never take root, grow and bear fruit in the way side heart soil. What should you do?
a. You have to ‘move’ the soil of your heart from the way side “into the house’ of the sower, to be a ‘field’ which will be tilled exclusively by the sower.
You must be ‘connected’ accurately and continuously with the sower, not just listen the word occasionally when ‘the sower’ is passing by. You must be a part of the sower, surrender yourself into the hands of the sower to be plowed, tilled, sown the seed, watered, taken care, cut, and so on.
You must give freedom to the sower to do whatever is necessary to transform the soil of your heart and make sure every seed that he sows produces fruit.
b. You should allow only ‘one kind of seed’ planted in your heart.
Do not allow two kinds of seeds falling into the soil of your heart, because it means there will be a mixture that will confuse you there.
“Obey my commands. Do not crossbreed domestic animals. Do not plant two kinds of seed in the same field. Do not wear clothes made of two kinds of material” (Leviticus 19:19).
Do not listen to a sower who has many kinds of seeds. Make sure you only hear the Word from a sower who has ‘one kind of seed’ or ‘one spiritual source’. His seeds may be many, but the source is from a single tree. You must choose what tree you want to be. Never want to be all trees, as you will be shapeless tree that is confusing. Or you will be a ‘watermelon tree with betel leaf.’
In the Old Testament, ‘the way side’ is often associated with spiritual adultery.
“Look up at the hilltops. Is there any place where you have not acted like a prostitute? You waited for lovers along the roadside (the way side), as an Arab waits for victims in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution” (Jer. 3:2).
The way side heart soil also describes people who have a lot of mixture in them. There are many teachings and beliefs that they believe in, so the ‘image of God’ became amorphous in them.
This has led to chaos and confusion so that when the Word of the Kingdom come into their lives, they are difficult to understand it because it clashes with what they have understood and have believed over the years.
2. They feel they have understood but actually not.
When God conveys His heart to a sower who He believes, God conveys it with understanding and purpose of His own. When the sower communicates it, he tries to convey it from God’s point of understanding.
But often people who hear them, understood them in terms of their own understanding. This is what makes them ‘feel/think’ they already understand, but actually not.
Word of the Kingdom is a kind of solid food that need to be constantly chewed, not just once or twice. The first time you hear, you will feel you have already understood, but actually not.
What should you do? You must hear the recording of the sermon and read your notes over and over again. The more you hear repeatedly, the more Holy Spirit will open it for you, so that your level of understanding will continue to increase until it reaches one hundred percent.
Finally you will have the same understanding with the person who conveys it, and if you have the same understanding, you will have the same maturity. If the same seed has entered and rooted in the soil of your heart, then the same tree will appear and the same fruit will emerge.
Like the sower that has already born fruit and has had a lot of seeds (because in a fruit there is always seeds), you too will produce the same fruits. Amen.
Also read: The Easier and Cheaper Way.
