Luke 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.  Notice that in this parable in all four instances, the SEED is the same.  The word of God is always the same!  It is forever settled in Heaven.  The thing that makes the difference in the four examples given by our Lord is not the SEED, but the SOIL.  The SOIL in the parable is a picture of the condition of the heart.  Many will say… God knows my heart… yes, he does!  The scripture declares… Jeremiah17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?  We have established the who, the Lord of Glory!  The seed in the first example falls by the wayside.  Quickly, the devil comes along and snatches the seed from the heart.  The seed, being the word of God, is where true faith originates.  No wonder the enemy wants to pluck it out before it has an effect on the life of the unbeliever.  In the second example, the seed falls on stony ground.  If you wanted to grow a fruitful garden, would you be looking for a piece of ground full of rocks?  Here, the seeds springs up fast, but because the root system is very poor.  The trials of life come, or you could say the heat is turned up, and this person having no root is offended and turns away.  Tomorrow, we shall observe two more examples of the soil given by the Savior.  Question… How’s your heart?  Pastor