Compare Luke 5:1-3
These passages will ring immediately true to anybody who’s spent time in the Holy Land. My question, though, is, Where would somebody in Palestine find soil that isn’t stony ground? (That’s a bit of an overstatement. But not much.)
Anybody who’s attempted to teach the Gospel as a missionary will also recognize the different responses listed here: There are those in whom the Gospel takes no root at all. And those who receive the Gospel enthusiastically but soon lose their initial excitement and fall away. And those who aren’t fruitful in the Gospel because worldly influences overcome them. And, of course, finally, there are those who accept it, love it, and live it.
I’m intrigued by the fact, which may or may not actually be significant, that, according to these passages, even among the righteous who receive the Gospel and remain faithful to it, there are differing levels of “fruitfulness.” Three, to be precise.
Here’s an article on the topic that you might find profitable, by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, who serves as one of the two vice presidents of the Interpreter Foundation:
http://ldsmag.com/article-1-11255/
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