Friday, May 29, 2020

 
 
 
Devotional 5/29/20
“The Sower Tends the Soil of His Heart”
 
 
by Dona Hake
 
 
 
 
Yesterday we meditated on responding to God‘s Word. The soil of our heart is determined by how we maintain it.   We must be obedient to Him, and purpose to be humble in all of our ways.  We cannot get away with a life lived carelessly or walking it on “the fence“.   One foot in the world’s ways, and the other in God’s ways are not pleasing to Him.  Oh that our hearts would be kept guarded that we not fall into a pick and choose attitude relative to our obedience to God and His Word. If we do, we will find the Word unable to take root. Therefore we will not see spiritual growth.  There are Christians that struggle deeply because they keep going round and round the same “mountain” of troubles because of this very thing.   God desires that none of us live this way.  Again, the man or woman that looks into His mirror and walks away and forgets is so sad to our Lord’s heart. Let us look at chapter three of the book of Mark in light of looking into the mirror of God’s Word.

“Consider this: A farmer went out to sow seeds. As he cast his seeds some of it fell along the beaten path and soon the birds came and ate it. Other seeds fell onto gravel with no topsoil and the seeds quickly sprouted since the soil had no depth. But when the days grew hot, the sprouts were scorched and withered because they had insufficient roots. Other seeds fell among the thorns, so when the seeds sprouted so did the thorns, crowding out the young plants so that they could produce no grain. But some of the seeds fell onto good, rich soil that kept producing a good harvest. Some yielded thirty, some sixty—and some even one hundred times as much as was planted! If you understand this, then you need to respond.”
Mark 4:3-9 The Passion Translation
 
Isn’t it interesting that this translation’s last few words of Jesus are “If you understand this, then you need to respond.”  In closing I am going to share a footnote of the Passion translation on this portion of scripture which I found to be interesting…
 
“The one with ears to hear should use them.” We usually apply portions of this parable to unbelievers, but Jesus instructs us to apply it to ourselves. The four kinds of soils speak of four kinds of hearts, hard hearts, hollow hearts, half hearts, and whole hearts. With the first soil we see the activity of Satan, the second, that of the flesh, and the third, that of the world. Bearing fruit is never a problem with the seed but with the soil it falls upon. “
 
May we live for God with whole hearts, and intently gaze into the mirror of His Word!