As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.
Luke 8:15 ESV
http://bible.com/59/luk.8.15.ESV
Luke 8:15 ESV
http://bible.com/59/luk.8.15.ESV
I have read this scripture over a hundred times, and this is my first noticing of the nature of the heart receptive to the seed of the Word. First, the soil is prepared by the Gardener or Farmer. God prepares the soil of our hearts in the things he allows in our lives. Our days are numbered and he carries the cipher. All our events are pre-ordained and freely chosen by us, a confounding, seeming-contradictory fact whose detail is hidden in the inscrutable nature of the God who became a Man. Life makes us hard, fertile, rocky or arable.
Once the soil is prepared it receives the seed from the sower, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace! The sower, once faithful to sow goes on to the next field, this is his job. He rarely stays to nurture that one seed, one plants, another waters and to God is the increase.
The arable heart is first honest in its receipt of the Word. Honesty to admit the need for a Savior, honesty to recognize the difference between Light and Darkness, Life and Damnation. It is second, good. This is difficult to describe, Jesus says, "No one is good except God." I think the good human heart pursues goodness to the ends of the Earth. Like Paul, the 'good man' cannot say that he has attained, but that he forgets what is past and presses toward the goal. Without the Word, that goal is here and there, Brownian motion for the soul. After the honest receipt of the Word, the pursuit of goodness is focused because it has a goal - follow Jesus and apprehend holiness. The honest and good heart is eager to receive the Word and it holds fast to it, never letting go as a boy handles his first marble or a girl her favorite doll. Hold fast and never let go. Notice, this is spoken as occurring in the instant of hearing the Word, but I think for most holding fast occurs as the worth of the Word dawns on us, hence patience. The rate and intensity of holding fast is a function of honestly recognizing the need and pursuing the goodness therein. As we see what we have, as we learn to learn it, use it and teach it we grow and produce fruit. This is where the patience of the heart comes in. So many seek God desiring a quick fix and are disappointed. It is not that He does not care, but the true, effectual knowledge of Him requires patience. As a man pursues the woman he loves, so ought we to seek God's face. Moses waited six days where many of us will not wait 6 minutes.
Honest, good and patient is the heart and that receives the Word of God, that sees the face of God and accomplishes the purposes of God.
Once the soil is prepared it receives the seed from the sower, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace! The sower, once faithful to sow goes on to the next field, this is his job. He rarely stays to nurture that one seed, one plants, another waters and to God is the increase.
The arable heart is first honest in its receipt of the Word. Honesty to admit the need for a Savior, honesty to recognize the difference between Light and Darkness, Life and Damnation. It is second, good. This is difficult to describe, Jesus says, "No one is good except God." I think the good human heart pursues goodness to the ends of the Earth. Like Paul, the 'good man' cannot say that he has attained, but that he forgets what is past and presses toward the goal. Without the Word, that goal is here and there, Brownian motion for the soul. After the honest receipt of the Word, the pursuit of goodness is focused because it has a goal - follow Jesus and apprehend holiness. The honest and good heart is eager to receive the Word and it holds fast to it, never letting go as a boy handles his first marble or a girl her favorite doll. Hold fast and never let go. Notice, this is spoken as occurring in the instant of hearing the Word, but I think for most holding fast occurs as the worth of the Word dawns on us, hence patience. The rate and intensity of holding fast is a function of honestly recognizing the need and pursuing the goodness therein. As we see what we have, as we learn to learn it, use it and teach it we grow and produce fruit. This is where the patience of the heart comes in. So many seek God desiring a quick fix and are disappointed. It is not that He does not care, but the true, effectual knowledge of Him requires patience. As a man pursues the woman he loves, so ought we to seek God's face. Moses waited six days where many of us will not wait 6 minutes.
Honest, good and patient is the heart and that receives the Word of God, that sees the face of God and accomplishes the purposes of God.
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