January 11 Seeds of Spring

PREPARE THE SOIL

Read Luke 8:4-8.

The seed of God that is sown into the good soil is the only seed that bears fruit. What does the "good and honest" heart look like? What kind of hearer is this? This is the one that upon hearing the word of God takes it to heart, listens, repents, believes, and obeys. This is the heart in which the seed takes root, grows, and produces fruit that matures.

How do you receive God's word?

Jesus tells us this parable to help us examine ourselves: Do I have ears to hear? Do I have a heart that is able to respond to the word of God in repentance, belief, and obedience?

As I look back on my life as a professing Christian, I realize that during the first ten years the weeds of the world choked out the word of God. I loved the things of the world. "Real life" was too important. God's word had fallen onto the ground of my heart and began to grow, but the worries and concerns of this world far outweighed the importance of God and His kingdom. Thankfully God didn't leave me there; He rescued me. It was as if He took a rototiller to my heart. But that wouldn't have been enough. He completely replaced my heart with a new one. The seed He sowed into my new heart took root and grew. Since that day this new heart responds so differently to His word. It delights in the law of the Lord!

Read Psalm 1.

If your heart delights in God and His word, praise and thank Him! Thank Him for the great and immeasurable gift that He has given to you and nurture that gift! If your heart does not delight in the law of the Lord, do not despair, do not give up, and do not walk away. Confess it to the Lord. No one has the power to make the soil of their heart good. Ask God to forgive you and cleanse you of all unrighteousness. "Lord, let your living words penetrate our hearts and produce a full harvest of righteousness!"

Over the next several weeks, take God's word to your heart and ask Him to help you receive it by faith and then bring it to life through obedience. Ask Him to help you bear a full harvest of righteousness.

“When a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable: "The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great." As He said these things, He would call out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭8:4-8‬ ‭NASB‬‬


“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭1:1-6‬ ‭NASB‬‬