andrew dodson

Luke 8:1-15 Listen

8:1 Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.

4 And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10 he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. 14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

1.  What is the will of God?

(v. 15) For us to hear God’s word, hold it fast and bear fruit.

2.  In light of God’s will, what is He like?

In spite of the majority of people rejecting salvation, God still offers salvation to everyone.  This shows his love and mercy.

3.  What are practical ways we can apply God’s will?

Don’t get discouraged by rejections to the Gospel.  If we have family or friends who wither away from the Gospel, we should continue to sow into their lives.  “To get as much seed as possible to take root in good soil,” (Life Application Study Bible).

4.  What are ways we blow God’s will?

We can let the Gospel be devoured by our life, by not responding to it at all.  We can let the Gospel wither away when the first trial in our life comes and we abandon God.  Or, we can let the Gospel be choked by our worldly desires and pleasures.

5.  What thoughts are revealed by these actions?

The world is more important to us than a Savior.  We don’t hear the Word well enough or often enough.  We don’t dig into the Word often enough.

6.  What beliefs about God are revealed by these actions?

Despite rejection of God’s Word being inevitable, we should continue to sow seeds.  Some of us need to hunger more for the Word.  Some of us need to weed out things that are preventing us from spending time in the Word.  Some of us need to be more intentional about spreading the Word.

7.  How are you doing in this area?  Or, what is your response to the Word?

I have held fast the word, and I seek to bear fruit.  That’s not to say I always succeed, but I try to bear fruit daily.  He is still revealing areas of my life that need to be weeded out to make more room for Him.  I could do a much better job of spreading the Word to others.  I thank God for making me good soil.  Now, I seek to grow and yield a crop.