When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn’t take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person’s heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road. Matthew 13:18–19 (MSG)
Yesterday we began a discussion about the four types of heart attitudes Jesus described in the Parable of the Sower. As the seed fell on four different types of ground, three types of ground (heart attitudes) could not grow the seed (God’s promises). This serves as a warning to us to keep our hearts right if we want to benefit from all that God has promised us.
The first type of attitude to avoid is what I like to call the fence riding attitude. When the seed fell on the hard-packed path, it was stolen away before it ever had a chance to germinate. But what makes a person’s heart hard?
Fence riders toy with doing things they know are wrong, questioning how far they can push the envelope. Living this way makes the heart hard and prevents God’s Word from producing. It’s also a painful way to live. Inevitably they fall and life deals out painful consequences.
Fence riding is comparable to a husband asking his wife, “How far can I stray from you before it is wrong?” Just asking the question shows his heart! If you are in love with somebody, you have a passion to make them happy. Don’t pursue questionable things and have Jesus just as fire insurance for where you will spend eternity. That’s not the way to live out God’s best for you. Pursue God. Not that He’s evading you, of course, but cultivate a relationship with Him and you will keep your heart ready to receive all that He has promised you.