This devotional is part 4 of 4 in a series based on The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8) in which Jesus compares various conditions of the human heart to a farmer’s field.
In the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23), Jesus compares a farmer’s field to our hearts. God uses all kinds of people and tools to sow the seed – the Word of God – which falls on four different types of soil. Likewise, four kinds of soil make up the field of our heart.
Three of them fail to produce a crop. But the seed that “fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23). You recognize good soil by its fruitfulness.
What Makes for Good Soil?
Good soil takes preparation and cultivation.
To prepare good soil, gardeners work the plot, adding healthy organic matter before planting.
But good soil is also continually worked throughout the growing season, whether by removing debris, turning over hardened areas, or pulling weeds.
A farmer must pay the price to have fertile soil.
Working the Soil = Working Our Hearts
Our hearts are a lot like soil. A gardener adds organic material to the soil to increase its fruitfulness. In the same way good doses of practicing God’s Word through spiritual disciplines adds richness and spiritual nutrients to our hearts. The person who opens his heart to understanding God’s Word is willing to face its truths and apply them to his life … knowing he may also need to protect the seed when it’s planted, take a spade to hard areas in his heart, and pull out weeds of sin in order for the Word to flourish.
Preparing our hearts to receive God’s Word takes purposeful planning.
Every field has great potential
All soil has potential. Every field can be tilled and prepared to be a better place for the seed of God’s Word to germinate, grow, and yield good fruit.
A surrendered field that is prepared, willing, available, faithful, and ready gives God the workspace to do His awesome job of multiplication.
It’s in that prepared heart that He not only sows the seed of His Word, but from which He produces a yield beyond our wildest expectation — 30 or 60 or 100 times what was sown. That’s thirty, sixty, and one hundred times the investment!
Think of that potential. God is responsible for the increase. A seed can produce a multiplied impact for God’s Kingdom in our hearts, but only when our hearts are ready to receive it.
Is the field of your heart prepared?
The Parable of the Sower Series
Your Heart, Part 1: Birds Are Stealing Your Seeds!
