Are you a soil where things can grow?
40 Days with Jesus – October 24th – Luke 8:4-15
While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” His disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’ “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. (Luke 8:4-15)
The passage above from the book of Luke is one of many parables Jesus used in his teachings. Jesus always knew his audience, and He knew how to tell an effective story to get his point across. In this particular parable, Jesus said the seed is the Word of God. The different soils are the different kinds of hearts that hear the Word. My question to you would be, “What kind of soil are you, and what kind of heart do you have?” You may be asking yourself, “Did this guy just ask me what kind of soil I am?” Well, yes. I did ask you that question, and I have a good reason why I asked it. Good soil, which is an honest and good heart, brings forth fruit. Jesus says in John 15:8 that God is glorified by our bearing “much fruit” and thereby being His disciples.
The Bible speaks of three types of fruit. The fruit of the Spirit is found listed in Galatians 5:22-23 and includes love, joy, peace, AND patience, among other traits. There is also the fruit of righteousness found in Romans 6:21-22, which is our doing what Jesus asks of us. Finally, there is the fruit of bringing people to Jesus (Romans 1:13).
I would like to conclude by asking you a few final questions. How’s your garden growing? Are you good soil? Have you produced any fruit? I hope that your answers are positive ones, but if they are not, then I would like to challenge you to reexamine your life to see what you need to do to have good soil to produce good fruit. Remember, producing good fruit means having patience. Most of us cannot stand being patient in today’s “I want it now” generation, but with patience comes a great harvest to reap.
J. Robinett
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