LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Wednesday 25th August 2021
SOME FELL ON STONY PLACES
Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:1-23
Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. Matthew 13:5-6
Jesus spoke about the second kind of soil on which the seeds fell. He described this kind of soil as ‘stony’ or rocky. The stony or rocky place Jesus referred to in this parable was land that had soil on top of it with rocks lying closely underneath. A lot of the land in the world Jesus lived in had this feature. They had a fertile top that could be ploughed and a rocky sub soil that was not tilled.
In the parable, Jesus noted that this kind of soil did not have depth. He also pointed out that although the soil lacked depth, the seeds planted in it would spring up in the same way as the seed on good ground.
The Lord mentioned two factors that worked against the seed that fell on this stony soil:
- The first factor was the scorching sun. Usually, the sun is a friend to plants. It facilitates the process of photosynthesis, which allows green plants to receive nutrients from the water in the soil. In the parable, the sun, which God had designed to help the plant to grow, ended up killing it. Why would something God has intended to be a blessing become a curse to us?
- The second factor that worked against the plant in the stony soil was the lack of depth. Because the ground had a shallow surface, the plant could not develop roots to draw water and nutrients from the earth. When the sun shone, there was no water in the soil to give nutrients to the plant, so it died out of a lack of nutrition. The sun represents the everyday trials and tests of the Christian faith. God brings them our way to help us draw strength and mature us and not to destroy us. When tests come our way, we must have roots to draw from the water of God’s word to overcome them.
Jesus likened the ‘stony’ soil to people with no deep spiritual roots for their faith. Such people hear the word of God, receive it immediately with joy and start growing, but never deepen their walk with the Lord. They receive the milk of God’s word into their lives but do not move on to desire the strong meat of the word.
This is a picture of a lot of people who followed Christ because of His miracles, but could not go further to accept His call to full discipleship. We must not limit our walk with God only to the things we want to have from Him. We must go deeper in our walk with Him and learn to use trials and tests as a means for spiritual growth.
May the Lord help us to grow deep roots in our relationship with Him.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to have a deeper relationship with you. Plant your word deep inside my heart