Those By The Wayside

“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.” (Luke 8:5)

Silence.

It's what I love about waking up at 3:30 in the morning. 

Quiet, with no distractions.

Seems like I keep waking up at this same time a lot lately.
—Maybe someone wants me to hear something?

I woke up thinking about the Parable of the Sower, in Luke chapter 8.

Jesus often taught in parables. To many, these must have seemed like cryptic riddles. But He later explains their meaning to His inquisitive disciples.

What was His purpose for teaching in parables?

“Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?” 

And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that; “Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.” (Luke 8:9-10)

At first glance, Jesus' reply here sounds equally cryptic. I can picture Peter and the others saying, "Huh?"

What does verse 8:5 say?

The sower sowed his seed. Some of it fell by the wayside—a highway, or busy road. There the seed was trampled.

Picture a farmer sowing seeds along the edge of a busy road in 30 AD. Bustling people on their way to town to do business, leading their sheep or goats, and maybe an occasional cart rolling along. The seed that fell on a busy road such as this would most certainly be trampled. And the people were probably so caught up in their business, that they didn't give much thought to the scattered seed which had fallen on the road. But opportunistic birds saw the seed, and came and snatched up that which was dismissed, by men too busy to care.

After Jesus recited the entire parable of the sower to the multitude, He said:

"He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

It was Jesus' disciples who asked Him: "What does this parable mean?"

"He who has ears to hear" wants to know the deeper meaning of what Jesus is saying, and ask's Him for understanding. A disciple is a pupil or student, but really more of an apprentice than what we think of when we hear the word student. Jesus said, "Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me." To be yoked together with Jesus means to walk with Him, being taught by Him, learning from Him.

Jesus answered the disciples request for understanding of the parable, saying:

“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.” (Luke 8:11-12)

To understand the context of the meaning of the parable, first look back to the parable itself. The sower went out to sow seed. Some of it fell on the highway, where it was trampled. Birds then came and devoured that seed.

So in the parable revealed, Jesus says those by the wayside are people who hear the word of God, but then the devil comes and takes away what was sown in their hearts, lest they should believe it and be saved.

How can the devil take God's word from your heart? Only if you don't receive it by faith and believe it.

The people by the wayside don't have faith. They don't want to believe the word. And it's my belief that they didn't want to be saved. They don't think they needed saving.

Like most people today, they think, "I'm a good person."

You can hear God's word and it can even resonate in your heart for a moment. But if you trample the good seed of the word of God by your unbelief—then the devil can come right in and snatch away what you've heard because you didn't believe it to begin with. You didn't think you needed the Gospel.

You don't think you need a Savior.

The heart of the message here is, those who want to believe, will. And those who don't want to believe, won't.

Those by the wayside are those who don't want to believe.

Those who want to believe the word do so, and they respond to the Sower of the good seed of the word; the Gospel of Jesus Christ—which is:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

     —Do you want to believe?

—God is Love, and Love Never Fails.