Heart Soil

My wife has a small, raised garden in our back yard. She has planted green beans, tomatoes, and okra. We have already enjoyed some of the green bean harvest. The rest is yet to come. My father-in-law plants a huge garden every year. We have enjoyed corn and cucumbers for sure. The thing about a garden is the preparation of the soil. Here in Georgia, we have hard red clay in abundance. The soil must be tilled and worked to prepare it for planting seed.

Jesus told a parable about planting seeds and the point of the parable was the soil. He was speaking to four situations where seed is planted. I think at some point in my life, my heart was representative of all four types of soil. Check this out…

¹⁸ “Now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seeds: ¹⁹ The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts. ²⁰ The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. ²¹ But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. ²² The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. ²³ The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted! (Matthew 13:18-23 NLT)

Pathway heart – hard heart, emotionally tough.

Rocky Heart – love the Lord but shallow on commitment.

Thorny Heart – love the Lord but crowded out by distractions.

Prepared Heart – love the Lord, live for Him, influence others for Him.

I see the amount of work it takes to have a good harvest with a garden. It takes way more work to keep my heart soil prepared for the Word of God.

Love is often spelled “TIME”. If I love something, I spend time on it. If I love someone, I spend time with them. Time is a currency that everyone has the exact same amount of it.

I want to spend time with the Lord in His Word.

I want to hear from Him.

I want Him to speak into my heart.

I want my heart soil to receive His Word in order to influence others for the Kingdom.

Pressing On!

Dwayne