Luke 8:12
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.

This is Satan’s biggest goal—to prevent belief that results in salvation.  So even if someone has heard the Word, he takes it from their heart, and it is unable to take root there and so change them.  He instead fills their hearts with many other things.  He spreads his lies and subtly distorts things.  He will go to any effort and he works so tirelessly to prevent hearts from turning to God.  And ultimately he leaves them empty to be cast down into hell with him.

This is the enemy we are up against.  He seeks to take away the Word, so we must proclaim it ever more so it can have a chance to take root.  We must be committed to truth so that it may overcome all the lies of the devil.  We must go back to those places where he has taken away the seed and try again and again to get something fruitful to grow in those hearts.  We must not stop, because Satan never does, and we must be just as diligent to win them over to the Lord’s side as he is to win them to his.

There really is a battle raging all around us between God and Satan, between good and evil, between truth and lies, between life and death.  And the battleground is our hearts.  Because if the seeds that are sown can stick there in our hearts, we can be immediately and amazingly transformed by the power of God working in us.  But if Satan can keep the Word out, those hearts turn hard and cold.  Those hearts are fooled by his lies and oppose God and seek sin.  Those hearts dwell in darkness and are then lost for good.

So let us go forward into this battle well-equipped.  We are the sowers taking the Word of God throughout the field of this world.  We prepare by first praying for hearts to be open to receive.  We scatter the seeds of truth everywhere we go.  And we are diligent in our work of proclaiming Christ to this lost and dying world.  The Word of God is the most powerful and important thing we can spread into the world around us.  That’s why Satan opposes it so strongly.  But when we are faithful to His Word, God can win over any heart so that many can believe and be saved.