Baptist City Blog

Some Fell, But One Got Up

Luke 8:15

"But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience."

There is a valuable truth that is often missed in the parable of the sower. The phrase, "some fell" is mentioned four times in this parable. The seed fell in four different situations, and only once will you see that the falling of the seed produced stable growth. In the verse above, when the seed fell on the good ground it came back up and brought forth fruit.

No matter who you are, and no matter what your status in Christianity may be, you will fall. Notice that God said, "some fell." Everybody is going to fall sometime in their Christian life, but only in one instance will they get back up from their failure and produce. The reason we know that everyone will fall at some time is because everybody is a sinner. Romans 10:13 says, "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:" The Scriptures reinforce this statement by saying in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" In both of these verses God makes it obvious that everyone will sin. Therefore, you will fall through failure or sin. The hope is that once you fall that you will rise again. The parable of the sower shows the key to getting back up after failure is what you fall into.

First, some fall because of wrong associations. The seed that fell by the wayside illustrates those who fall because they were influenced by wrong associations. One of the reasons your associations are so important is for the fact that when you fall in this area, the possibility of getting back up is rare. Therefore, because it is rare to recover once you fall into wrong associations, be careful about those with whom you choose to associate.

Second, others fall because they won't listen. When God talks about the seed falling onto the rock, He is illustrating someone who won't listen because of a hard heart. My question to you is this, do you ever think you are wrong? Are you one who always blames wrong on others? It scares me when I watch people in church who never go to the altar to get things right with God. The reason it scares me is because I see people whose hearts are so hard that God can't get through to them. If you won't listen to the preacher, authority or friends who warn you about mistakes, then the possibility of getting back up once you fall is scarce. If you won't listen now, then you probably won't listen once you fall.

Third, some fall because of worldly cares. The seed that fell among the thorns never recovered. Likewise, those who fall because of worldly cares rarely, if ever come back to God. Christian, this is why you need to set your affections on things above, and not on the cares of this world. If you fall because of your worldliness, then it will most likely take over your life and cause you to never recover spiritually.

Last, some fall while serving God, but when they fall, they have the Word of God that picks them up. The last seed fell, but it fell on good ground. The result was that it came back up and produced fruit. If you will wrap your life around the Word of God, then It will give you a tender heart that is capable of learning from mistakes. The Word of God is the rebounding agent for God's people. When a person makes their life about fulfilling the commands of God's Word, then when they fall, that failure will teach them to be a better person once they get up. Christian, become like the last seed that fell on good ground. Let the Word of God cause your heart to become that fertile ground that causes you to rebound once you fall.