Stony Ground...HELP

[Newfaith2010]

So I've just had a read over the Parable of the Sower... The meaning I read online is as follows...



[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The stony ground represents those who hear the gospel and feel excited and intrigued
by it as it is new and interesting, yet they have no real depth of understanding.
Since they haven’ changed their minds or repented they are not true Christians!
They don’t realise the true value of Christ’s sacrifice.
So they are likely to fall away when persecution or temptation comes along![/FONT] [FONT=&quot]

So I feel at the minute that I'm hearing God's word and it’s exciting me..It’s new and I want to understand more...I want to believe in God, I want to have strong faith. I pray every night but I don't feel like anything inside of me has changed...I want it to and I will keep reading and praying and talking with Christians but I don’t know...like I just don’t feel anything yet?? Why is this...does this mean I’m the stony ground? I don’t want to be the stony ground I want to be the good soil but I don’t know how to get there as I am just not feeling any change!
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]i dont think I do understand the greatness of Jesus' sacrifice for us...again I want to but am just not seeing it?!

I feel bad when I sin...and I’ve asked God to come help me out and guide me towards him...sometimes it feels like I’m just saying it and not believing it...I want to but often don't. And it’s bothering me cuz I don’t want to be the stony ground!! Grr!!!


So by my understanding the stony ground people are likely to fall away when temptation comes...right??


Say someone who loves to go get drunk, who is gay or has a lot of sex out of marriage...like they can’t just change over night...so does that mean they are stony ground people?![/FONT]



sorry to go on here - just really frustrated and confused!!

 

[LilLamb219]

You stated you don't understand the greatness of Jesus' sacrifice for us. I'll tackle that one first.

You probably are aware that you are a sinful human being. We all are. We can't help it because Adam's fall was our fall as well. We are all in need of a Savior and thankfully, God provided. He came to earth in the form of man, lived the perfectly obedient life none of us could and then died on the cross in our place so we can be reconciled to God. Our sins are forgiven.

Now, faith is a gift from God according to Ephesians 2. That faith can be thrown away and the stony ground concerns those who have thrown away faith. They weren't strong in the faith in the first place because the foundation was weak (stony ground as opposed to fertile ground)...it's not that they were not Christians...just weak ones. And they fall away. We fall away when we turn from Christ and the forgiveness given to Him...when we reject Him.

 

[student ad x]

Hey NewFaith,

Welcome to Christian Forums. I'll first point out something in the parable of the sower in Mark & Luke, using the NASB translation:

"Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. "Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. "And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. "Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. "Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." Mark 4:3-8

"The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. "Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. "Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. "Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great." Luke 8:5-8

Remembering that the seed is the word of God (the Gospel) and each of the ground/soil represents a heart condition, look at what I highlighted and underlined. See the differences in how the Gospel is heard when it falls on or among the heart vs the last example where the Gospel makes it into the heart and produces a spiritual crop.

[FONT=&quot]Say someone who loves to go get drunk, who is gay or has a lot of sex out of marriage...like they can’t just change over night...so does that mean they are stony ground people?![/FONT]

In the parable, the seed that falls into the good soil is likely going to see a storm (temptation) or 2 during the growing cycle, yes? Yet, it's root has established itself into the heart so that it may endure the storm.

 

[Peripatetic]

Going from stony soil to rich soil takes some time. As "student" said, the seed represents the word of God... the most important first step is to make time for it, and to read in a non-random way. Read the whole book of John and Romans for a sort of "Christianity 101", and maybe use a daily devotional book.

Say someone who loves to go get drunk, who is gay or has a lot of sex out of marriage...like they can’t just change over night...so does that mean they are stony ground people?!

Well, there may also be some barriers (thorns) in the form of worldly priorities and repetitive occurrences of the same sin, like you describe here. It doesn't mean they will have stony or thorny ground forever, but if they spend time in the Word, the Holy Spirit will start to make some of those pervasive sins feel a little like poison, instead of the pleasure that they used to be. If they are overcome, the soil will get richer.

 

[sbbqb7n16]

The parable of the sower, part 2 - in Jesus' own words:

"Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."
Matthew 13:18-23

The word of the kingdom is that forgiveness can be found in Jesus Christ. So when people hear that good news, but don't understand it, there is no benefit - it is taken away. The next two examples both show people who begin to doubt the saving power of Jesus because of things in the world. In one case - persecution because of their beliefs, and the next the deceitfulness of wealth. And they choose to leave. The final person only needs to do 2 things - hear the word, and understand it.

Sometimes it's hard to keep focused on how Jesus loves us and chooses - out of His great mercy - to forgive us when we constantly go astray. But He died on a cross for you and me, and no sin will keep Him away.

He still loves you dear.