In the parable of the sower, the Lord had urged his hearers to maintain
an open heart and be receptive hearers. He also warned his followers about the
consequence of not acting on the word that one had received. And now, alone
with those followers, He affably gave them the meaning of that parable. He began
by explaining what He meant by the seed that fell by the wayside. He said, “…as
soon as it (the seed) was sown, the birds came and ate it up.” The “birds” as
can be seen is referring to Satan, the archenemy of the human soul. He would
come and steal any truth that was sown before it could take root in the
hearers’ hearts.
The fields of farmers in Palestine at that time were usually long,
narrow and winding strips. They would have many paths that were hardened by the
feet of men, hooves of animals and perhaps even by wheel-barrows. The paths
symbolized the people with hardened hearts where the spoken truth of God could
hardly stimulate them. Like the path, a heart could be hardened by the busyness
and hectic pace of life that no truth of God could ever quicken that person.
The wayside here is about busyness. The Lord wants us to know that the busy
and frenzied pace of life could harden our hearts. They will keep us so engrossed with the mundane things of life and will leave us with no time to reflect on
the Word of God. The gadgets of modern technologies and the busyness of this
life can kill our spiritual sensitivity. So we need to take heed to the Lord’s
warning about a hardened heart, for the sake of our spiritual progress. Don’t
allow our heart to develop callousness. And if there is an area of callousness,
waste no time to deal with it so that it will not further develop into a hardened
ground, to prevent the germination of God’s truth in our lives.
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