He That Hath Ears to Hear, Part II — The Wayside

March 14, 2008, 10:30 am; posted by David
Filed under Articles, David, Sermon | No Comments

Read Part One here.

If you find yourself sleeping through church, please give me just five minutes! If you find yourself unable or unwilling to read your Bible or pray, because you believe that God has nothing to say to you anyway, please read this article!

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus describes four types of soil that we offer God to work with in our life; the first He calls “the wayside.” This is where you are — but you don’t have to stay there.

The wayside is the ground that borders the fertile field — trampled by traffic, beaten, barren, and impenetrable. Listen to the explanation He gave His disciples about this ground. He said that when God speaks in your presence, it hits a hard and unbreakable surface. It lays there for but a moment before the devil swoops in like a bird and carries it away.

In this parable, God is always speaking, always casting out his word: to move and motivate you; to free you and heal you; to make you what you need to be. By tuning out, you have given the enemy the right to intercept and carry off anything God says to you. You think that the One who loves you most never calls, or writes, or visits, but in reality, you’ve let the devil take over the phone, check your mail and answer the door.

The first thing to do is realize what has happened. Take a stand by praying, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.” The next step is softening up the ground. But how did it get so hard and how can you soften it up again? In the parable it was hardened by a constant traffic of feet, carts and hooves. This constant barrage of objects and instruments beat the ground, making it hard and impenetrable. How do we change that? First, you must shut everything else down. Close the road to traffic. Turn off the television, the radio and the computer. Put away the hunting rifle, the fishing pole, the toolbox — whatever you distract yourself with. You have to eliminate distractions and get before the Lord.

Charles Finney wrote an excellent tract in the 1800s, called Breaking up the Fallow Ground. It was based on Hosea 10:12: “Break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he comes and reigns righteousness upon you.” Your ground will not be barren unless you leave it barren. To be good for tilling, ground must be broken up and plowed. This only happens in your heart by an intentional act of your will.

You must take control and get your heart into the place where you can, and will, hear what the Spirit is saying to you.