5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
This is a weird way of looking at a farm. Usually we think it is the farmers job to make sure the birds don't eat the seed, it is his job to water the crops and it is his job to pull up the weeds. But here Jesus is looking at the result and judging the soil based on the result. He doesn't blame the birds, or the drought or the thorns. Instead he is saying I can see how good the soil is by how much fruit it produces. Maybe it got that way because you were diligent to keep the birds away, you were diligent to get the water from the word each day and you were diligent to keep the thorns from choking out the word.
9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Notice how He doesn't blame the devil. We have birds, they eat seeds, but we eat birds. Get yourself a .22 and go out and shoot the birds. We all have rocks in our hearts, things that keep us from having deep roots into God. We have to deal with those things. Everyone has distractions, the TV, the internet, movies, these could choke the word from everyone but in reality only chokes the word from some. Those that are bringing forth fruit with patience reveal that they have an honest and good heart, that they have heard the word and keep it.