Get Desperate (Matthew 13:19)

Matthew 13:19 says, "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and understands (it) not, then comes the wicked (one), and catches away that which was sown in his heart."

[This verse parallels Mark 4:15, and Luke 8:12, where a different Greek word is used to translate the English phrase "takes away".]

CATCHES AWAY

This verb is used 13 times in the NT with the underlying sense of "to take by force".

It is, in fact, the word that is used in several references, to convey the act of "rapture", or being "caught away" (Acts 8:39; 2 Cor. 12:2,4; 1 Thess. 4:17; Rev. 12:5).

It comes from a root word meaning "to choose" something for oneself, but in this context expresses two significant thoughts:

1) An open act of violence.

2) The robbery of another's property.

There is another Greek word that expresses the act of stealing, in a secretive manner, but this word means to forcibly seize upon something in "an open act of violence". There is no attempt to disguise the action taken.

CONTINUOUS FORCE

In the first part of the verse, the continuous force of the present tense of the verb, is used in the phrasing, "...when anyone hears the word...", to portray action in progress.                                                                                                                  

In other words, the action of the Sower sowing the word, is meant with the simultaneous action of Satan snatching away what is sown. Both are taking place at the same time. 

VERY GRAPHIC

In the Greek, there is the sense of the very graphic "tearing out" of the heart, the seed sown. 

OWNERSHIP

The word used in Mark 4:15 and Luke 8:15, is also very illustrative of this violent action of forcible seizure. However, what is also reinforced, is the taking away from another, what belongs to them, or what has been committed to them. This means there was a certain sense of ownership or entitlement lost.

What is expressed in this parable, is not the power of the devil, but the incredible "force" of the seed of the word of God.

POWERFUL POTENCY

Satan is so extremely desperate to keep the word of God out of the lives of people, because he knows the incredible powerful potency of the "seed" to produce results, that he literally tries to tear the word out of the heart of the hearers, before it can gain a lodging.

READ THE SCRIPTURES

Several years ago, two separate evangelical organizations conducted surveys which revealed basically the same staggering results: only about 15% of Believers read the scriptures on a regular  basis. The devil may be a lot of things, but  he is not passive, when it comes to the potential of God's word in the lives of people.

Just as he is desperate to keep the explosive power of the word out of our lives, we need to be just as desperate, not passive, to sow the seed of the word into our lives, especially when it belongs to us; we have a sense of ownership of the word, it is our property, given by our Father, to ensure, our certain success.

You are God's Best and God's Best is Yours.