Parable of the Sower explained, part II
And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. (4:16-17)
Some people live at the surface of themselves. They are used to easy pleasures, whether physical - like food, or spiritual - like times when they sense my presence. This is the consumer mindset, when you want the good in this world but are not ready to let the Holy Spirit plumb the depths of your heart. People are like houses, with many rooms. They are ready to welcome me in some rooms, but as soon as the Spirit will want to open some rooms and bring light and purity, many persons will recoil and reject the Holy Spirit.
If people welcome me in only some parts of their life, and are not willing to let me and the Holy Spirit purify and visit all the rooms of their life, the Gospel will not take solid roots, and spiritual joys will be short lived. When persecution will come, because of me and my message, they will quickly fall away. The Gospel is a seed that is designed to bring fruit in all your life, all the areas, all the relationships, all the moments of your life. It is not a plant to put in a pot, it is a seed to let grow in your heart and spread in all your life. In doing so, the joy of the Gospel will not remain superficial and short lived, but transform you deeply. When people let my word and the Holy Spirit only penetrate the surface of their lives, they will have the choice between hypocrisy and backsliding. This is not what I want, I came to bring life, a life abundant and joyful, to bring peace and deep happiness that only the constant communion with the Father can give. Pray that the Holy Spirit removes from your life and the life of those on your path all the stones that hinder to roots of the gospels.
And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. (4:18-19)
If stones don’t move, thorns do grow. This is the greatest challenge to the gospel in the hearts of people. I explained to my disciples that they cannot serve both God and money. Money is a huge idol in your world, in all the countries, and deceives both the poor and the rich, although in different ways.
The poor will often be full of anxiety, not learning to trust in me and rely on me, letting the cares of the world fill their hearts. This is a major challenge. I came for the poor and struggling, yet they have to learn to come with faith in me, and I will lead them in all the domains. I will lead them on how to find the food the Father has prepared for them, how to walk by faith and grow in love. They are dear to our heart, yet they have to trust in us and not in man. They should not put their trust in those who promise riches, using even spiritual reasons to take the little money they have. They have to learn to pray and speak with me, to ask, to seek, to knock. They have to discover that I am able to provide, that the Father guides them not only for survival but for growing in faith and love. Let this poverty be also a poverty in spirit, where they rely on the Father more than on human authorities that can often trap them.
The rich are often full of concerns about what they have, about how to have even more, how to use money to get a perfect security, a perfect assurance of protection for their health, for their investments, for their belongings. The deceitfulness of riches is rooted in the fact that these riches are short-lived, and they don’t bring real peace and happiness. Don’t gather treasures on earth where the thief, the moth and the rust will destroy these very treasures, despite your best efforts to avoid it. Learn to gather treasures in heaven, treasures of love with God, of harmonious relationships. Use money as a tool for good relationships, instead of using relationships for getting more money. Riches are deceitful because they promise much but give little. What they give is not what people seek. Through money and riches, people seek love and joy, yet they get greed and tensions between them and others.
The desires for other things also choke my word of love, the good news. It represents the many desires that can grow in a human heart. Desire is good, as long as it is not a distraction from the main purpose of all humans: to love God and to love your neighbor. You can use this purpose of love to discern if a desire is rooted in us, in love, or if a desire is selfish and just a thorn in your heart.
When the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches or the desire for other things take root in a human heart, the gospel will be choked and will not bring fruits. Some people will even have the shameful pride to pretend that I am not faithful, that the promises they read in the Bible are not true, while they have never let these promises take deep root in their lives, letting their many desires choke the words of life that they received. Don’t let thorns grow in your heart. Learn to love the Father, learn to live a life filled with the Holy Spirit. Simply ask us and trust in us, walk faithfully with us. If you recognize a thorn or a stone in your heart, ask us to remove it, and we will lead you in this journey of love, so that you can taste and rejoice of the joyful holiness that the Father wants for you.
But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” (4:20)
When your heart welcomes simply my word, when you welcome me simply, I can then guide you and bring in your life all the fruit that we want. This fruit has many forms. It is love, peace, joy, patience. It is also all the works of love that the Father wants to spread through you, like healings, casting out demons, words of encouragement and exhortations for you or others, and all the ways the Spirit wants to make of you a blessing for others. As you become a good soil for the word, you become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Through you God’s love will flow and give joys that the world cannot give. You will receive and communicate a peace that the world cannot give. The world is seeking happiness through things, yet this true happiness comes from being filled with the Holy Spirit, the love of God, the seed of His Word, and from bringing fruits of love. When you welcome us in all your life, letting us remove stones or thorns when necessary, you also welcome the peace and joy that comes from us, and let the Holy Spirit renew you as a child of God full of light. Let our holy love take deep root in your life and transform you. Let joy and peace rule in you. Become the blessing you are called to be to many.
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