Day 101 on the Words of Jesus from the Book of Matthew . “But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; “Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he falls away.” ~Matthew 13:20-21 . By David Guzik . On stony places: As seed falling on the thin soil on top of the stony places quickly springs up and then quickly withers and dies (Matthew 13:5-6), so some respond to the word with immediate enthusiasm yet soon wither away. . This soil represents those who receive the word enthusiastically, but their life is short-lived, because they are not willing to endure tribulation or persecution… because of the word. . Spurgeon made a good point: “I want you clearly to understand that the fault did not lie in the suddenness of their supposed conversion. Many sudden conversions have been among the best that have ever happened.” The problem was not their sudden growth, but their lack of depth. . “Tribulation is a general term for suffering which comes from outside; persecution is deliberately inflicted, and usually implies a religious motive. Falls away is literally ‘is tripped up’; it is not a gradual loss of interest, but a collapse under pressure.” (France) #Matthew13 #ServingJesusChrist #StonyGround #Tribulation https://www.instagram.com/p/B6wEoNnFv6_/?igshid=1g1b76tvswnij