Seed By the Wayside

                                                     

Matthew 13:19 "When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side".

In the days of old, there was no Bible, no word of God written somewhere. So when God needed to communicate he did so through prophets. They had a calling, were receptive to God's communication through dreams and signs, were blessed with wisdom and knew human nature of those times.

Today, we find all these qualities in Gods word, and hence, just as it was critical to listen to what the prophets said then, it is critical for us to read and understand Gods word now - to gain His wisdom, knowledge and His instruction for our lives.

To do this we need to go beyond just reading the word. We need to read, understand and apply it to our lives.

To read His word is simple - we just need to find and consecrate quiet, unadulterated time to it.

Understanding His word needs some work. In the quoted chapter Jesus Himself asks that question - "have you understood all these things"? That is the importance to be attached to His word. We need to research the background, sometimes check translations, understand the context and references and so on. (For example we may have read Psalms 35 and 91 many times but have to stopped to find out what is a "buckler" and thus how can you ever understand the impact when it says His truth and His helps is like a "shield and buckler"?)

All of this is possible only by dedicating time, patience and is hard work, but above all we need to ask for the wisdom and guidance to understand it from the Holy Spirit. Thus, it may be a good idea to pray for such opening of the eyes and mind by the Holy Spirit before we read.

And then comes the application to our lives. If we have read it and understood it, we will be able to identify, without rationalization or justification, the impact of what we do and ask forgiveness, specifically for those acts of commission or omission we may not even be conscious of, correct them and practice the new way according to His word, so that it gets sowed deep in our hearts and minds.

In the quoted verse, and in the parable, Jesus is talking about exactly this: hearing or reading the word of God and not understanding it can open us up to deceit by Satan. He can misrepresent it (through adulterated doctrine) or minimize the impact of what we have read, through faulty understanding or biases, so that it becomes useless, making us completely vulnerable.

So, if we are in the habit of performing a tick in the box by perfunctory reading, albeit it maybe a daily discipline, understand that it opens us to spiritual danger and becomes a useless exercise. A time wasted. A life without purpose. A shallow understanding. It's better not to read it at all.

So let us not receive "the seed" (Gods word) by "the Wayside" , as a superficial reception, but give His word the honor, understanding, time and Devotion it deserves and demands and ask for the Holy Spirit for give wisdom to understand the word.