“The seed that fell on the hard path represents those who hear the message, but then the Devil comes and steals it away and prevents them from believing and being saved.” - Luke 8:12
As the farmer sowed his seed, he inadvertently dropped some on the hard path that wound through the cultivated areas. Jesus compared this picture to the minds of “pathway people” who receive the Word of God without understanding (Matthew 13:19).
The mind is the avenue through which truth travels to our hearts to give us spiritual experience. If the soil of our minds is like pathway soil, nothing will take root, and the seeds of the fruit of truth will not be carried along into our understanding. The wind of other concerns will blow it away before it has time to be translated into sense.
Satan stands by the pathway person’s mind. He watches the seed fall and snatches it away like a ravenous bird. He doesn’t want that person to believe the message and be saved, so he will distract in any way he can (Mark 4:15).
Pathway people do not believe they need Jesus Christ. They may not accept the fact that he is divine, or relate him to themselves or their dilemma. In fact, pathway people do not even believe they are in a dilemma. They never listen in church. They fill their minds with thistle fluff that will not trouble them. They believe anything that is comfortable, acceptable, and even respectable.
Is your mind like pathway soil? Or is it a fertile field where the seed can grow?
For Further Study: Luke 8:1-18
Excerpted from The One Year Devotions for Women, Copyright ©2000 by Jill Briscoe. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
For more from Jill Briscoe, please visit TellingtheTruth.org.
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