“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God…for that in the good soil, they are those who, HEARING THE WORD, HOLD IT FAST in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” (Luke 8:11, 15)
What kind of soil do we have? That may sound like a strange question, but it’s a question about our heart. The parable of the sower who scatters seed on different types of ground. Notice in this verse Jesus uses the term “good soil” to describe the person who hears and understands the Word of God. In Mark’s version, “…the ones who HEAR THE WORD AND ACCEPT IT…” (Mark 4:20).
And, in Luke’s version, Jesus says the good ground represents those who hear the Word and “HOLD IT FAST”. Did you notice the parable of the sower actually stays focused more on the ground? The ground is a metaphor for our heart: He’s saying that when we have a good heart, God’s Word can do its work in us, and we can bear much fruit. We must ask ourselves, what’s the state of our heart? Is our soil ready for the Word of God? We have to be so very careful that we don’t let our hearts get hardened. In fact, the bible says the birds of the air “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it.” (Luke 8:5) (which often represent demons in the Bible), will come and devour the seed that was sown. What this means is we won’t see real change in our lives until we prepare our hearts to receive the Word. That’s one of the reasons we begin our services with praise and worship and should start our prayer time with praise and worship as well. When we’re in God’s presence, things like pride and pain are stripped away and OUR HEART SOFTENS. Telling God how much we love Him opens our heart…
So we will be more receptive of His word!
Love the Word of God with me…Bill Stockham