The Condition of Your Heart

February 25

Leviticus 11-12

Psalm 26:8-12

Proverbs 6:16-19

Mark 4:1-20

The Condition of Your Heart

“And those are the ones that were sown on good soil; they who hear the word and accept it and are bearing fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”  Mark 4:20 LSB

Jesus used the Parable of the Sower to explain to His followers that there are four different responses to the gospel.  The sower in the parable is Jesus and the seed is the word of God.  The response to hearing the gospel is determined by the condition of the heart.  The hard ground represents someone who has a hardened heart full of sin.  He hears the word of God but has no interest in it.  He rejects it and Satan is able to snatch the message away. It has no effect on him and his heart remains hard.  We all know people like this.  They may mock you when you try to share Jesus with them or they may be polite but it is obvious they don’t want to hear what you are saying.  The second soil is rocky and cannot be tilled.  This person listens to the word and seems interested.  He may even say he believes, but he does not let it take root.  There is no depth, so when difficulty comes he easily falls away.  He did not understand and did not have real faith.  We have all known people like this as well.  They come to church and “seem” to believe but when trials and temptations come, they cannot stand firm because they don’t really believe. 

            The thorny ground represents someone who seems to receive the word, but like the person with the stony heart, they never let it take root.  The cares of this world, power, riches, pleasures and lusts choke it out.  The things of this world take his attention and he ends up having no time for it.  This person may come to church and profess belief but they put no effort into their faith because it is not authentic.  The good soil represents someone who hears the word, understands it and receives it. This person takes the seed sown in him and allows it to accomplish its purpose in his life.  The person with the good soil is the only one of the four that is really saved.  He allowed the seed to develop deep roots, grow strong and produce fruit.  Not everyone who hears the gospel will understand and believe.  Fruit is the evidence of true faith. 

            While this is primarily a salvation parable, we can take the metaphor and apply it to the life of the believer.  When we hear God’s Word, the condition of our hearts will determine what we do with the message.  If our hearts are hard, we will let it go in one ear and out the other, never applying it to our lives.  If our hearts are stony, we may initially accept it, but when things get tough we will not stand firm because we haven’t allowed it to take root.  If our lives are too busy and distracted, the message will get choked by the weeds and we will not apply what we heard. But if we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts through daily time spent in prayer and Bible study, the seeds planted will grow and develop into mature fruit in our lives.  What is the condition of the soil of your heart?