Matthew 13:20,21 - Are Your Spiritual Roots Shallow Or Deep?

Mat.13:20, 21; Are Your Spiritual Roots Shallow Or Deep?

Mat 13:20, 21 (KJV)  But he that received the seed into stony 
places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy 
receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for 
when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and 
by he is offended.  

Mat 13:20, 21 (TLB)  The shallow, rocky soil represents the 
heart of a man who hears the message and receives it with real joy, 
but he doesn't have much depth in his life, and the seeds don't root 
very deeply, and after a while when trouble comes, or persecution 
begins because of his beliefs, his enthusiasm fades, and he drops out. 
 

The four types of soil represent different responses to God's 
message. People respond differently because they are in different states 
of readiness. Some are hardened, others are shallow, others are 
contaminated by distracting worries, and some are receptive. How has God's 
Word taken root in your life? What kind of soil are you? [Life 
Application SB] 

This soil represents men who receive God's Word eagerly, but 
superficially. They get all excited about him until the first little test or 
bit of ridicule comes along. Then, when the heat is on, they cannot 
take it. They lose all their enthusiasm and are a total loss for God. 
[Jamieson, Fausset, And Brown Commentary] 

Deep Roots
Many people see abundant spring rains as a great blessing to 
farmers, especially if the rains come after the plants have sprouted and 
are several inches tall. What they don't realize is that even a 
short drought can have a devastating effect on a crop of seedlings 
that has received too much rain. 
Why? Because during frequent rains, the young plants are not 
required to push their roots deeper into the soil in search of water. If 
a drought occurs later, plants with shallow root systems will 
quickly die. 
We often receive abundance in our lives--rich fellowship, great 
teaching, thorough "soakings" of spiritual blessings. Yet, when stress or 
tragedy enters our lives, we may find ourselves thinking God has 
abandoned us or is unfaithful. The fact is, we have allowed the "easiness" 
of our lives to keep us from pushing our spiritual roots deeper. We 
have allowed others to spoon-feed us, rather than develop our own 
deep personal relationship with God through prayer and study of His 
Word. 
Only the deeply rooted are able to endure hard times without 
wilting. The best advice is to enjoy the "rain" while seeking to grow 
even closer to Him. [God's Little Devotional Bible re Rom.8:28] 

H. A. Ironside told of a godly man named Andrew Frazer who had 
come to southern California to recover from a serious illness. Though 
this Irishman was quite weak, he opened his worn Bible and began 
expounding the truths of God's Word in a way that Ironside had never; heard 
before. So moved by Frazer's words was Ironside that his curiosity drove 
him to ask, Where did you learn these things? Did you learn them in 
some college or seminary The sickly man said, "My dear young man, I 
learned these things on my knees on the mud floor of a little sod 
cottage in the north of Ireland There with my open Bible before me I 
used to kneel for hours at a time and ask the Spirit of God to reveal 
Christ to my soul and to open the Word to my heart. He taught me more 
on my knees on that mud floor than I ever could have learned in all 
the seminaries or colleges in the world." [Woodrow Droll; Time With 
God SB] 

Tuned In
One beautiful spring morning, an experienced hiker was walking 
with a friend down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The streets rumbled 
with the sounds of weekday rush-hour traffic. Suddenly the hiker 
stopped. "Listen." he said "I hear a cricket." 
"That's nonsense!" his friend scoffed. "Why do you think you 
hear a lowly cricket in all this downtown uproar?" 
"I'm sure I do, the hiker said. "Watch this." He pulled a dime 
from his pocket and dropped it on the pavement. Almost all of the 
people nearby stopped at the sound of the coin hitting the concrete. 
"All of us are tuned to certain things," the hiker said to his 
friend. "Our ears hear what they are tuned to. Mine happen to be tuned 
to crickets." 
In a similar way we need to be open to God's word. Jesus said we 
need "eyes to see" and "ears to hear" before we can tune in to the 
gospel. [Youth SB]