Keys to the Storehouse – Scorched and Withered

I am losing my interest in the truth I once had, and some of the old ways and practices are creeping back into my life. Why is this happening?

Oh no! The seed of life is withering because the heart has been hardened (turned to stone) in its own habits and the seed has no root. When the sun shines, the little seed is scorched and withered. No more light or seed can fill the heart and life because the first seed withered and became darkness and this is why interest in the truth leaves. Only as you advance in the opening light of God’s word will you receive more light. If you do not advance in that light, the seed will wither and die.

Oh what a terrible loss it is to let a seed wither and die because a heart would not change!

“Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.” Matthew 13:5, 6.

The truth you heard fell upon stony places—a heart that would not change, and “the seed sown upon stony ground finds little depth of soil. The plant springs up quickly, but the root cannot penetrate the rock to find nutriment to sustain its growth, and it soon perishes. … Like the rock underlying the layer of earth, the selfishness of the natural heart underlies the soil of their good desires and aspirations. The love of self is not subdued.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 46.

Without yielding yourself totally to the control of God’s word, you have no root and therefore you lose the interest you once felt in the truth. You have not been born again. The root cannot get nourishment from a stone and therefore the seed withers. That is why the Lord needs to give you a new heart.

“Those who do not follow true Christian principles, whose natural and cultivated tendencies to wrong have not been changed by the grace of God, have no root in themselves; and therefore they lose the interest which they once felt in the truth. They return to their sinful practices.” Atlantic Union Gleaner, January 17, 1906.

None need be so foolish as to cultivate that heart of stone where God’s word cannot take root and grow. Pray right now to claim the promise:

“Lord, my heart is failing because of its hardness. Your precious seed is withering because of the stony ground. Please replace it with a new heart and a new spirit. Take away the stony heart so your seed may take root and find nourishment to grow and flourish amidst your sunshine. And as the sun rises in the sky, so let the Son of Righteousness rise in my heart to melt the stone and prepare the way for more seed.” See Ezekiel 36:26, 27.

Use this key to enter the heavenly storehouse. It is time for the seed to take root and to flourish in the sunshine of God’s word.