As Jesus preached about the seed of God’s truth wanting to enter the hearts of people, He mentioned the shallow soil of a half-hearted commitment to the Lord, “Since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word” (Mark 4:17).  As a result of shallow soil, they fall away, abandoning the truth, and letting the seed die. Persecution arises when we hold onto God’s truth and let it go deeper into our hearts even if we don’t fully understand all that is being taught.

The meaning of God’s word used by Mark is specific. It refers to receiving and holding onto the truth about Christ’s salvation and our entry into His Kingdom. That same word is used in II Timothy 4:2, “Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.” The word of God, in whatever form existed at the time it was preached, was the essence of the disciple’s teaching.

Paul told Timothy the word of God corrects, rebukes, and encourages people. Some people want all the messages they hear to be encouraging, but that is only part of the purpose of Scripture. It will produce only a shallow understanding of a life of faith. Sometimes we need to be corrected, even rebuked, for our shallow understanding of God’s word. The moments of correction and rebuke are opportunities for us to go deeper into the soil of our hearts.

Down through the history of the Church, God’s word has been used as a tool to correct, rebuke, and encourage. Without those instructive teachings at work in us, we will continue to live with a shallow expression of faith that can easily be abandoned when tough times come or when we don’t fully understand what we are hearing. At some point, we need to trust the Lord to make all things clear over time, especially when our faith is challenged by the problems of life or persecution that come from believing what others have rejected but remains true because it is the unchanging word of God.