166
The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 2
Christ, the Sower, scatters the seed. There are the worldly ones,
whose hearts are like the hard-beaten highway, insensible to the teach-
ings of divine wisdom. They love not the requirements of God, and
follow their natural impulses. Many are convinced as they listen to the
important lessons of Christ. They believe his words, and resolve to
lead holy lives, but when Satan comes with his evil suggestions, they
are overcome before the good seed has fairly sprung into life.
Had the soil of the heart been broken up by deep repentance for
sin, they would have seen how wicked was their selfish love of the
world, their pride and avarice, and would have them away. The seeds
of truth would have struck deep into the fallow ground prepared for
them in the heart, and would have sprung up and borne fruit. But evil
habits had so long held sway over their lives that their good resolutions
had vanished before the voice of the tempter. “And these are they by
the wayside, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan
cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their
hearts.”
There are those who receive the precious truth with joy; they
are exceedingly zealous, and express amazement that all cannot see
the things that are so plain to them. They urge others to embrace
the doctrine that they find so satisfying. They hastily condemn the
hesitating and those who carefully weigh the evidences of the truth and
consider it in all its bearings. They call such ones cold and unbelieving.
But in the time of trial these enthusiastic persons falter and fail. They
[239]
did not accept the cross as a part of their religious life, and they turn
from it with dampened ardor, and refuse to take it up.
If life moves smoothly with this class, if their way is never crossed,
if all things are in harmony with their inclinations, they appear to be
consistent Christians. But they faint beneath the fiery test of tempta-
tion; they cannot endure reproach for the truth’s sake. The good seed
that had sprung into so flourishing a plant, withers and dies because it
has no root to sustain it in the time of drought. The very thing which
should have caused the fibers to strike down deeper and send up more
vigorous growth, parches and kills the whole plant. Just so the hot
summer sun, that strengthens and ripens the hardy grain, withers and
destroys that which, though fresh and green, has no depth of root,
because the tender fibers cannot pierce the hard and stony ground.