Are there seeds of faith growing in your heart?
How you handle life depends on what kind of soil those seeds are growing in.
Jesus told a parable to a large crowd about a farmer and planting season. Relating the story with what was their everyday life would help them relate to what Jesus wanted them to know about their faith and the condition of their heart.
This is a familiar passage, but one to look at more deeply, especially with all that’s going on in the world right now.
Your heart and mind are under attack! It’s time to make sure the roots of your faith are unshakable inside of you. Let’s make sure the seeds planted in you are strong and growing!
Planting time
Luke 8:5-8
“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.
Different outcomes for the seed. Why did some of the seed not take root? What was different about the good soil?
Let’s move on and let Jesus explain.
Planting of the seeds
Luke 8:11-15
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 little while, but in 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 good heart, who hear the Word, retain it and by perseverance produce a crop.
Jesus tells us that the Word of God is the seed. The different soils represent different types of heart conditions.
Let’s break it down a little further.
- HARD HEART. The first heart soil is hard, which makes that person a prime target for the enemy’s influences and deceptions. There is no depth and nothing is growing in this heart.
- SHALLOW HEART. This person likes what they heard from God’s Word and seems to be going down the right path. But the soil was shallow and the roots had not gone down deep. When life got hard and temptations came they began to wither and went back to their same old life.
- MIXED HEART. This heart gradually gives into worry and is caught up in the temptations of the world. The seed eventually gets choked out by worries, and the pull of riches and pleasures in their life. It wasn’t anything big that choked the life out of them, its the everyday life that finally takes over their hearts and leaves no room for thoughts of God or eternal and spiritual issues.
- GOOD HEART. You hold onto God’s word for dear life, and with perseverance, you bear fruit for God’s kingdom. This is the life worth living.
We are living in unstable times right now. All the more reason to make sure your heart is anchored and holding fast to the truth of God’s Word. It all begins in your heart. Do some soul searching and identify your heart’s soil condition.
Sometimes faith is all that we can hold onto, and the roots need to be strong to do that.
Ask for God’s help and let Him till up those hard rocky places, and make you ready for His tender plantings of faith.
Until next time,
~pat
