Re: What are "Christians"?

Luke 8

J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

"This is what the parable means. The seed is the message of God. The seed sown by the roadside represents those who hear the message, and then the devil comes and takes it away from their hearts so that they cannot believe it and be saved. That sown on the rock represents those who accept the message with great delight when they hear it, but have no real root. They believe for a little while but when the time of temptation comes, they lose faith.

I definitely see myself in these verses. This is what happened to me when I became an agnostic.

And the seed sown among the thorns represents the people who hear the message and go on their way, and with the worries and riches and pleasures of living, the life is choked out of them, and in the end they produce nothing.

I sometimes see myself in these verses now and I hate it.

But the seed sown on good soil means the men who hear the message and accept it with good and honest heart, and go on steadily producing a good crop.

This is where I pray I will be and remain for all my remaining days.

I don't know if you relate to any of this or not, but I thought I would share my experience.