The good soil

Luke 8:15 (GN)

“The seeds that fell in good soil stand for those who hear the message and retain it in a good and obedient heart, and they persist until they bear fruit.”            

Jesus’ parable of the Sower is a very popular story, found in three of the four gospels (Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20; and Luke 8:14-16).  The parable of the Sower is a description of how people (the soils) hear and receive the Word of God (God is the Sower, the seeds are God’s Word).  Of the four types of soil, only one is good soil that, as this verse exclaims, describes people that hear the Word, remember it, and allow it to enable them to bear fruit in their lives.  In each of the four kinds of soil, representing four ways the people receive the Word of God, all hear the Word, but only a few actually remember and act on it. 

Hearing the message is not only actual hearing of a sermon or other verbal teaching/preaching, but also is reading the Word of God.  What kind of “hearer”, what kind of soil are you with respect to your responsiveness to the Word of God?  Can you name a specific response you made to last week’s sermon?  Is there a Bible verse or passage that you read today or this week that has caused a definite change in your thinking and actions?  When you read your Bible or hear a sermon, do you take notes?  How much of what you hear or read do you retain? 

Remember, the good soil is a person who hears (or reads) the Word of God and retains it in his or her heart and then allow this Word to enable them to bear fruit for the rest of their lives.  What a blessed life this is!   

I believe that in each of us, there is something of all four soils.  However, over time, you can change and be only the good soil, giving God the chance every time you read or hear His Word to do His gracious work in you.  Sometimes this means altering your life either a little or a lot.

Bearing fruit is a very important action that Jesus emphasized.  Read Matthew 7:16, Luke 13:6-9, and John 15:2-8).  What does “bearing fruit” mean?  There are several answers including helping others to accept Christ as their Savior and works of ministry that help others to grow in Christ and be fruitful themselves.  Roy Davison summarizes it this way:  “Bearing fruit includes all that a Christian does to the glory of God”. 

The productivity of the seed directly depends on the receptivity of the soil.  How receptive are you to hearing, studying, and responding to the truth of God’s Word?