The Dangers of Wayside Ground

Recently I was sitting in Sunday school with the teens and another leader encouraged a young teen to read the parable of the Sower. I felt compelled in the last few days to this particular parable in the scripture of Mark 4: 3, I found myself only considering this parable

The Sower went forth(with purpose) to sow(scatter/broadcast) seeds upon the earth. As the sower sowed it fell on 4 types of ground: the wayside, the stony, the thorns, and the good ground

vs 14 tells us what the seed represents: The seed in this parable represents the Word of God. The sower is guided by the Holy Spirit to go out with a purpose to share the Word of God. The sower can be:

a pastor, a teacher, a CIA leader(christians in action), layperson, a teen etc

The types of Ground represent the different types of receptiveness of those that hear the word of God

The sower is aware that he may not always reach ground that accepts the seed, allows the seed to grow, fullfill its purpose, and yield fruit abundantly yet he/she still goes out and casts seeds anyway in hope that wherever the seed lands(the word of God lands) that the ground will be accepting and ultimately transformed into something better than what it initially was.

Let’s look at 1 type of ground 

The wayside: side of the road

Notice in the parable that “some” seed “fell by the wayside” but not all the seed fell there

“Fell by the wayside”-(complete oxford dictionary) To fail to persist in an undertaking. The seed fell by the wayside but the ground did not/was not able to accept the seed(the Word of God)

Why: continue looking at vs 4 The fowls of the air came and devoured the seed up.

Okay lets go back a minute:
notice that this ground(the hearer) did hear the seed (the Word) but was not or did not accept the Word of  God. Therefore a bird(Satan) swooped down ate the seed from the ground(vs 14). This ground is an easy target for Satan to swoop down and rob the hearer of the life changing Word of God.

MacArthurs commentary states it this way: This ground(hearer): 1) is careless with the Word of God, 2) sees the Word of God as “trifling” or insignificant to his/her life, 3) sees the Word of God as having very little value for today, 4) Views God’s word without respect or seriousness. In essence esteems God’s word as nothing more than bird poop.

Why is it that some of us(myself included) have at times or presently have reguarded or viewed God’s Word as bird poop when in reality it is more valuable than my unborn baby or my wedding ring and vows

I challenge you to today to not let Satan rob you of the life changing Word of God. I challenge you to allow the seed to take root, to flourish, and to grow in your life. I challenge you to accept the Word of God with Respect every time you hear it and allow it to grow and flourish in your life