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3 Reasons People Fall Away
3 Reasons People Fall Away
“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold." When He had said these things He cried, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" Then His disciples asked Him, saying, "What does this parable mean?" And He said, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that 'Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.' "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. (Luke 8:5-15).
In the parable of the Sower, we can see three major reasons as to why people can and will fall away. As we go through our day, we must remain vigilant against the devil’s attempts and attacks in order to draw us away from God. We should be doing everything we can to draw ourselves closer and not away from the Father. And I hope that this will help us to identify when we see these things happened to us and to be able to notice if our brothers or sisters may be heading down the path and help us to intervene and help ensure that no one is lost again. Ultimately that is what is we all want, to ensure that all our saved and none are lost.
The fist way we see is that devil takes away the word. Sometimes we worry what those around us will say or think of us if we give our life to Christ and follow His will and rules. We call them the birds that devour the word before it can have a chance to take root and grow. We let peer pressure or the pull of social conformity to allow us to not receive the word. We listen to things like follow your heart or gut instead of follow Jesus. In order to believe and be saved it takes a change of heart, and if the devil can remove the word from the heart that process will cease and be unable to happen. Paul writes that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God in Romans 10:17. If we don’t have the word, then we can’t have the faith that is required. We can’t know what it takes it to be truly obedient if the word isn’t understood and discerned. Without faith it is impossible to please God. The devil is like a roaring lion and is looking to devour us at every turn. He is crafty and will us any and everything within his arsenal to ensnare us. Don’t allow the devil a foothold, hold tight to the word and pray without ceasing and allow the word to take root and sprout.
Another reason people will fall away is during a time of temptation. The soil is rocky or has become unstable. The seed doesn’t have a good root, and a gust of wind can come through or a time of temptation and they fall away or are blown from the word. Temptation isn’t anything new to the Christan and we must prepare and be ready when they arise. Satan is going to use the very things that he knows will for work on us individually and result in the most damage. You can become a Christian and believe and have faith but when that faith is tempted you can fail the test and not hold fast to the promises of God. Christ endured temptation and every time we see He prayed and was able to overcome. That needs to be our first step, prayer. Not asking why is this happening to me or why could You allow this to befall me but strengthen me Lord so that I can endure and not commit sin against You. There is no temptation that we cannot overcome as long as we remember that God is faithful and true. (1st Corinthians 10:13). He will never leave us, we leave Him. If we love the world then the love of the Father isn’t in us. The world is made of things that are ways or avenues of temptation John writes in 1st John 2:16, and they are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life and these are not of the Father. Stay vigilant and be ready. God will never tempt us; we are drawn away by our own desires and enticed. Don’t allow temptation to allow you to fall away from God.
The last one on this list is when we allow the word to be choked with cares, riches, and life’s pleasures. As our seed grows it should be producing fruit. If we are not abiding in the word, then we produce the fruit of the Spirit. We are going to do one of two things in everything that we do, either the work of the flesh or the fruit of the Spirit. We must ensure that we aren’t drawn to the flesh by our desires, pleasures or earthly treasures. Satan will tempt with all the shiny things that we want and desire, but in the end, they will fade and perish away. Allow the word take root and grow and not allow the cares and riches of this world to choke out the true Word of God. For it is by His Word that we have salvation, but we must allow it to grow and bear fruit. We must also learn to lean on each other. A brother or sister may be going through a trial or temptation that we have already overcome or one that we may not have passed as well as we should or hoped. Help be an encouragement and not a hindrance or another avenue of temptation. And always remember to pray. Jesus sympathizes with and for us, as He too endured the trials and temptations that we go through. Lean on Him that overcame.
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