This devotional is part 3 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 Jesus compares a farmer’s field to our hearts, describing how the seed of God’s Word lands in four types of soil. But only one type of soil produces a healthy crop. Three do not.
Weedy Areas: a Special Scenario
Of the three types of soil that do not produce a harvest, the seed sown among weeds (Matthew 13:7) presents an altogether different scenario from the seed sown on the hard path (which is snatched away before it sprouts) and the seed sown in rocky soil (which withers soon after germinating).
In this third type of soil, the Word actually takes root and grows. Yet as the plants are growing, weeds also sprout and grow alongside these plants. Because they compete for nutrients, sunlight, and room to grow, the weeds become a threat to the health and maturation of the crop.
A weed is a pitfall that can choke God’s Word and cause us to be unfruitful: wealth, worries, cares of this life, temptations, and desires for other things.
Weeds Are Inevitable
Even the most meticulous farmer – or most disciplined Christian – must weed his heart. No matter how carefully a gardener prepares the soil, weeds will inevitably pop up during the growing season, whether in escaping the clearing and preparation process or being dropped by birds and insects onto the field afterwards. Likewise, maturing Christians regularly face temptations to sin, regardless of how diligently we prepare our hearts to receive God’s Word. Wise Christians expect weeds of temptation to sneak into their hearts.
At issue here is not that there will be weeds, but how to deal with them.
Do You Have a Weeding Strategy?
Weeding a field is a process undertaken with care. Strong, broad-leafed weeds may upend the young crop roots because they are so much larger. Thorned weeds with hooked leaves and stalks can pierce the new seedlings and the farmer’s skin.
The same is true with weeding our hearts. As weeds of sin and temptation grow larger, they become harder and harder to remove, and pose a greater risk to damaging the good planted therein. Catching weeds of sin early allows you to pull them out before they overtake God’s truth in your life. Some of your heart’s pitfalls may prick and even injure the seedlings of truth in your heart. The process is most successful when conducted diligently and repeatedly. A well-weeded heart, like a well-weeded field, has a stronger chance of producing a fruitful yield.
Wise Christian have a weeding strategy. They expect their hearts to be littered with pitfalls and are willing to face them in order to have a fertile field. That’s why they check their heart’s garden each day to catch what’s there, deal with the pricks from the thorns … and pull the weeds.
How about you?
The Parable of the Sower Series
Your Heart, Part 1: Birds Are Eating Your Seeds!
