Luke 8

Luk 8:9
And His disciples asked Him, saying,
What might this parable be?
Luk 8:10 And He said,
To you it is given to know
the mysteries of the kingdom of God.
But to others I speak in parables,
so that seeing they might not see
and hearing they might not understand.
Luk 8:11
And the parable is this:
The seed is the Word of God.

I have wondered about the phrase
"to you it is given to know, but to others..."
because at first glance it seems like favoritism.
He is telling a secret to some and not to all?
My understanding is that Christ is available to anyone,
so I have been struggling with this meaning.

Last time I read this I remember thinking
that perhaps he couldn't just blab out the naked truth to everyone,
that maybe he had to leave some "wiggle room"
for those that weren't ready yet or something.
Maybe the rules of the game forbid God
from suddenly appearing in front of a man,
proven and leaving no room for doubt.
I mean, if God is proven or disproven,
it takes away a person's choice to follow or not.

I believe God and the Bible
will NEVER be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt
because that would ruin it,
man's free will would be taken away for good.

So maybe he avoided the "in your face" teaching
by speaking in parables.

Anyway, it is a moot point now that I think about it!
The fact is, he explained the mystery,
and it has now been published everywhere
in every language.
So if he withheld it from anyone, it was only those people
he was preaching to at that moment.

What I mean is:
He says "To you it is given to know..."
and I am reading it,
so to ME it is given to know....
Whatever mystery there was, is now revealed to ALL.

So whatever my speculation was
about "maybe this" or "maybe that" is meaningless,
it would only apply to that small group of people.
that he was speaking to at the time.

moving on....

What happens when the word of god reaches us,
and those seeds start to sprout?
Is the recipient forced to make a life-altering choice
right then and there?
for once and for all?
Or are we allowed to let it brew and stew for awhile?

He says:

Luk 8:12
Those by the roadside are the ones who hear;
then the Devil comes and takes the Word out of their hearts,
lest they should believe and be saved.
Luk 8:13
Those on the rock are the ones who, when they hear,
receive the Word with joy.
And these have no root, who for a while believe,
and in time of temptation fall away.
Luk 8:14
And those which fell among thorns are the ones who,
when they have heard,
go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of life, and do not bear to maturity.
Luk 8:15
But those on the good ground are the ones who,
in an honest and good heart, having heard the Word,
keep it and bring forth fruit with patience.

Here's where I start to get a little bit uncomfortable.
nervous. agitated. unsure.
How often does the sower sow?
Is he casting his seeds out continously?

Because at different times I can see myself in ANY of those conditions.
Or maybe I should say I feel like I have been ALL of those
at one time or another.
Some days I really do feel like that last example,
having heard the word with an honest and good heart.
But I also admit that I have fallen away many times to temptation.
And often I am choked with cares and riches and pleasures.
I am definitely one of those "eat drink and be merry" kinda guys.
So is it valid to say I am versions 2, 3 & 4?

Or knowing that I am usually somewhere between 2&3,
maybe I have NEVER been at the fruitful 4th.
and I'm just fooling myself thinking I have been there
because I don't REALLY know what it is yet.

Well, this could get really discouraging
so I am going to slither out of here
and not think about how fruitful or unfruitful I have been.

but here's the clincher....

The text sort of implies that the seeds are sown
and you either get it or you don't.
Maybe this is wishful thinking,
but I'm hoping that the seeds are arriving all the time,
and some make it and some don't,
and maybe every day I can ask for more seeds,
and the sower will never run out of them.

If that is the case, then there is hope for me yet!