Lesson Recap

The Parable of the Sower - by Dallin H. Oaks

     The parable of the sower talks about the different soils on which some seeds fell. These soils represent the different ways which the teachings of the gospel are received and followed. What do we do with the Savior's teachings?
     Do we let the teachings fall on Stony ground where it grows quickly but because the teachings don't have any real root they are scotched and wither away? We must beware for "if we are not rooted in the teachings of the gospel and regular in its practices, any one of us can develop a stony heart, which is stony ground for spiritual seeds."
     Do we let the teachings of the gospel fall among thorns that choke it out? Do we hear the word but we let the cares and the riches of this world overpower the teachings and come first in our lives? We need "to really live what we claim to believe. That need to be a priority- not just in our personal and families lives but in our churches, our political choices, our business dealings, our treatment of the poor; in other words in everything we do."
     We all struggle with the stones and the thorns but hopefully more often than not the seed/word is falling on good ground. That the teachings reach our hearts and help us change for the better as we internalize them. How can we achieve this; "by praying, by scripture reading, by serving, and by regularly partaking of the sacrament to always have His spirit to always be with us."