Articles
Taking Away the Word
Jesus’ Parable of the Sower is about our response to God’s word. In the illustration a farmer sows seed which falls into different kinds of soil. The various soils represent the varied hearts of hearers.
One kind of soil is the roadside soil. Jesus’ explained it this way: “Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved” (Luke 8:13).
Obviously, the devil would prefer that I not listen to God’s word at all. He prefers prejudiced people, those whose minds are already made up about religion and who therefore have no desire to study. That starts with the disinterested and the anti-religious, but it by no means stops there. It includes all who are “just sure” about what God does and does not approve and “know in their heart of hearts” they are okay.
But suppose we listen. What then? How does the devil attempt to take away God’s word from our hearts?
He plants doubts. He asks whether we can have confidence in our modern Bibles, despite the enormity of evidence pointing to their accuracy. He suggests it is foolishness to believe in miracles because we have never seen one. He questions why God allows events that run contrary to human wisdom, subtly suggesting that we have supreme wisdom. And as he has done from the beginning, he always questions whether God really means what He says.
He changes our focus. The devil knows that Bible study can be compelling, so he quickly brings other considerations to the forefront in our minds. Work, vacation, sports, retirement, the economy, politics, international events— anything will do if it gets us sidetracked. It might be something good or bad, something new or old, something large or small. He does not care, as long as it shifts our attention.
He magnifies the challenge. Pleasing God requires wholehearted service, so the devil is quick to emphasize how demanding that will be in application. “Do you really think you can live up to that standard?” “Think about how hard it will be to give up. . .” “Every Sunday?” If he can just convince us to take a half-hearted approach, he will have accomplished his goal.
He points to others. You can be sure the devil is at work when the main thing that comes to mind while listening to a gospel sermon is how much this applies to someone else you know. And the devil loves to point out pretenders, implying that everyone who is trying to serve God is just that.
Do not be roadside soil. “. . . For we are not ignorant of his schemes” (2 Corinthians 2:11).
