It is not surprising that the greatest stories ever told were told by Jesus. They are known as Parables. The definition of a parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral and/or spiritual truth. Jesus used parables to make His teaching clearer to His audience. He used parables as part of His teaching to influence and challenge conventional wisdom and to encourage His audience to consider a deeper meaning to His words.
He uses parables to probe inside of us to see if we really understand the Gospel and whether the Gospel is beginning to transform our lives. Jesus’s parables focus on the Kingdom of God, God’s rule on this earth in the person of Christ. Jesus demonstrates Kingdom authority over disease, nature, demons, and over sin and death. In His teaching and parables, He taught the standards and the values of the Kingdom of God. These standards are much different than what we see in the world around us.
When I first opened my heart and received Jesus as my Lord and Savior, one of the changes that came over me was a desire to read and study God’s word. I joined a connect group, went to church each Sunday, and spent time studying God’s word on my own. This has remained the pattern of my life to this day.
Shortly after I was born again, the Holy Spirit led me to the Parable of the Sower. It had a profound effect on me. This parable speaks of the word of God being a seed that is planted in soil, with the soil being the condition of our heart. This parable warns us of the circumstances and attitudes that can keep anyone who has received the seed of the Gospel from it flourishing in our lives.
The first lesson in this parable speaks of soil that is hard, and because of that, the word does not penetrate, and there is no understanding. In contrast, it spoke of the good soil where the word went in deep and grew.
I prayed fervently for the soil of my heart to be that good soil and that I would receive an understanding of the Gospel. And God gave me that understanding and peace of feeling secure in my salvation.
It taught me the importance of guarding your heart at all costs.
Proverbs 4:23: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
I’m looking forward to my connect group next month as we will begin a study on the Parables. The first one we will be studying will be on the seed and the sower. I’m looking forward to others’ input into this powerful parable.