The Parable Of The Sower – The Wayside Soil

by Chris Simmons

Luke 8:12, “Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved” (KJV).

The first type of soil mentioned by Jesus in the parable of the sower is described as “the way side” (ASV, KJV) soil. What is this “way side” soil and what does it represent?

The way side soil literally represented paths that the owner of the field would continually walk upon, or the borders or edges of the field that indicated the dividing line between fields that over time would remain unplowed and become extremely hardened, compacted and incapable of receiving any seed. The seed that fell on such ground would simply sit on the top of the soil and provide itself as feed for the birds.

What is the “way side” soil? This soil represents those who have “ears to hear” but refuse to do so (Matthew 13:14-15). We need to understand that having ears that do not hear and having a heart characterized by the way side soil is a matter of personal choice (“…they have closed their eyes…”). An example is when Luke records the response of those who listened to Stephen’s defense in Acts chapter 7, who, upon listening to his preaching (for a while), wearied of the truth that touched their ears and finally got to the point that they literally “covered their ears” and rushed upon him that they might put him to death. We don’t have to literally cover our ears to have the same hardened heart that refuses to accept the seed of God’s word. Though the soul of the way side soil might hear some truth of God’s word, his heart prevents it from remaining with him and it’s taken away. It’s interesting to note that Paul’s grave concern for those in Galatia was that “the truth of the gospel might remain with you” (Galatians 2:5). If we’re not meditating on God’s word “day and night” (Psalms 1:2; Joshua 1:8), we are putting ourselves at risk of “the truth of the gospel” not remaining with us.

What is the “way side” soil? It’s what the Old Testament prophets referred to as “fallow ground.” For example, Hosea prophesied, “Sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD Until He comes to rain righteousness on you. You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped injustice, you have eaten the fruit of lies” (Hosea 10:12-13; cf. Jeremiah 4:3). Hosea clearly states that breaking up or plowing the “fallow ground” of our hearts is what man must do before we “seek the Lord.” The word “fallow” is defined by several dictionaries as “uncultivated, inactive and unseeded,” “characterized by inactivity,” “undeveloped but potentially useful.” It is simply the unplowed soil that has become hardened, often overgrown with weeds and incapable of receiving the sown seed without diligent preparation.

There are two perspectives we need to have regarding the way side soil. One is, what is our relationship to others whose heart is reflected by the “way side” soil or the “fallow ground”? As mentioned earlier, fallow ground left to its own will never be receptive of the seed. The farmer who out of aversion to work or sheer laziness chooses to leave his soil in a fallow condition has no right to expect a fruitful harvest. The prophets and priests of Jeremiah’s day were not willing to break up the fallow ground. Their approach with Israelites was to tell them everything’s alright though they had turned their back on God and hardened their hearts. God said of those prophets and priests, “they have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14). To be used, fallow ground must be plowed and tilled and cleared. Plowing that doesn’t dig deep and turn over the soil is no plowing at all. Preaching that doesn’t pierce the heart (Acts 2:37) deeply is not genuine gospel preaching. The prophets’ and priests’ approach to the fallow ground in Jeremiah’s day was a “superficial” one and they had no shame for the hardened, unproductive soil they represented (Jeremiah 6:15), and no desire to seek the truths of God’s word that would have plowed their hearts.

Many today clamor for a type of preaching that is described in human terms as “positive preaching” that ensures that no one is offended by the message. Preaching like that is not only not found in scripture, it’s also destined to provide unending acres of the fallow ground that will produce absolutely none of the fruit that God seeks. Rather, we read in scripture of preaching that sought to break up the fallow ground by convicting men of the sin in their lives. Those who are living in sin should not leave gospel preaching feeling comfortable about their present course of conduct. To those on the day of Pentecost, Peter broke their fallow ground when he culminated his sermon by saying, “let all the house of Israel know for certain, that God has made Him both Lord and Christ – this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36). Peter’s message was truly a far cry from “peace, peace” because indeed there was no peace! Only after the soil of their hearts had been plowed by such sobering and convicting truth could they respond by saying “brethren, what shall we do?”

The other perspective is how do we keep our own heart from becoming so hardened that it also becomes “fallow ground”? Self examination is required (II Corinthians 13:5) and we must be willing to look honestly into the mirror of God’s word (James 1:22-24) when we do so. But just as it is ridiculous for a farmer to think that he can plow and weed a field one time and never have to do so again, so it is if we think that we don’t need to continually have our hearts plowed by the truths of God’s word as long as the breath of life remains in us. The “implanted” word (James 1:21) is to be replanted again and again. We must make sure our heart is always receptive of the seed of God’s word and there’s nothing more important for that than maintaining our love for truth if we’re concerned about making sure our heart doesn’t become hardened and deceived (II Thessalonians 2:10-12).

We also need to make sure that we maintain a spiritual mindset for it is the carnal or fleshly mindset that the seed of the word of God is unable to penetrate. The carnally minded is the “natural man” of I Corinthians 2:14 who “cannot understand” God’s word and who is not able to receive it (I Corinthians 3:2). The birds will most certainly take away the seed from the heart of one who’s mind is set on the things on the earth rather than on the things above (Colossians 3:1-2). A heart once represented by the good soil can over time, and the influence of the wisdom and philosophies of the world, become “way side” soil that has become “fallow ground,” having become “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13). Satan is indeed using every deceptive tool to harden our hearts and be as the birds in this parable and take God’s word out of our hearts and minds.

May our prayer be for a heart that will never become so hardened and impenetrable that we no longer “gladly receive” (Acts 2:41 KJV) the word of God sown in our heart.