Jesus also tells us how people respond to the Kingdom of God. There are four ways:

1. There are those who understand it and the kingdom grows and produces fruit; they are good soil.
2. There are those who receive it and the kingdom begins to grow but it is then choked by the worries of life; they are the soil covered by thorns.
3. There are those who hear it with joy and the kingdom begins again to grow but trouble and persecution kill the growth; they are the shallow soil on the rocky places.
4. There are those who never understand and growth never occurs; they are the paths, the hard soil where nothing ever grows.