Truth in the Dirt: The Parable of the SowerSýnishorn

“The sower sows the word.”

The Greek word translated “word” (logos) comes from the exact same root as the word that was used to describe Jesus in the book John. Jesus is the word — truth, in the flesh. Any truth that is in line with what Jesus taught and lived is God’s truth.

Jesus says that when a seed of truth is sown, if it falls on the path, Satan will come and steal it. So, the natural question is: How could Satan possibly steal truth?

The enemy of our soul has only one tactic: Deception. Jesus even calls him the “father of lies” (John 8:44). Deception and lies are Satan’s tools and he knows how to use them well. That’s how he convinced Eve to go against God's command and he has used the same tactic ever since.

As someone who does a lot of hiking, I think it’s pretty insightful that he compares lies to a path. A path is formed when someone decides that a certain route is the easiest way to get from one point to another. As more and more people go that same way, it naturally becomes a path. Jesus seems to be saying that choosing to believe a lie is the easy way to deal with uncomfortable truths.

Lies tend to offer a simple, easier route to what you really want. They don’t require work to get our lives in line with God’s truth. Lies always offer a shortcut or easier way to live.

One of the short-term benefits of choosing to believe a lie is that it absolves us of personal responsibility to seek truth. We can blindly follow and, if it goes badly, we can blame the person who told us the lie. We get to be the victim. "I was just going with what they told me!" But the results aren’t usually pleasant in the long run.

Often times, the person doing the lying is us. We can deceive ourselves through willful blindness or unwillingness to look at uncomfortable realities about ourselves. It’s a lot easier to convince ourselves that everything is fine --that we're all OK-- even when we’re looking in the face of something we need to confront. We can tell ourselves that we have a habit or sin or situation under control, when it’s actually controlling us.

The path of lies is always the easy route. But God calls us to walk in truth, no matter what it costs us. In a world full of lies, embracing truth requires that we constantly seek Him. It’s also why he left us the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. The Holy Spirit guides us in truth (John 16:13) and empowers us to live out that truth.

When we choose to seek truth and never settle for lies (even it seems like the easier path) we find freedom.

Today we will be presented with all sorts of opportunities to take the easy path — through willingly believing a lie, not seeking out truth, or lying to ourselves. May we be those who never settle for lies and relentlessly seek the truth — even if it makes us uncomfortable.

Today, I encourage you to read Psalm 139:23-24 as a prayer, asking God to reveal areas where you’ve settled for a lie or self-deception over truth.