March 12, 2025 -- Luke 8:15 -- The Seed of the Word and Your Hearing Heart

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 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
 
You are perhaps familiar with the Parable of the Sower. The seed fell onto three kinds of soil that ultimately do not bear lasting fruit. The good soil, as is referred to in our text today, represents the heart that is prepared to hear God. Look at the way in which the word of God is received.
 
They hear the word. Ever talked with someone who nodding quickly, impatiently, is just waiting to speak at you? They’re not listening. They are so full of themselves there is no room for them to hear you? The good soil Jesus spoke of is the soul in which the seed of the word can germinate, grow, get strong and bear fruit. Good soil represents a man with ears that are open, eagerly listening to the Word. No back talk. Not sifting the word to say I’ll take this, but not that, accept that and let you know another part is too hard. Nope. The man, the woman, the child hears and receives it. All of it.
 
They hold the word fast. Fast means tightly. It is precious. It is hard to understand, but they hold onto it until they have mentally chewed on it. Spent time figuring out what it means. They do so with an honest heart. Simply, an honest heart can also be translated as a beautiful heart. A heart is designed to receive the word of God. When it refuses the word of God, it is not fulfilling the function for which it was created, like using a butter knife to tighten a screw. That butter knife twists and warps because it is not doing what it was made to do. So honest can also be translated as beautiful. It is beautiful precisely because it is doing what it was made to do. There is an elegance in that.
 
There is a second descriptive word: good. That is, a heart holding fast the word is made good by the Spirit of God. That is a heart that has torn itself away from the trampling peers, or short-lived enthusiasm until the next interesting thing comes along, or a heart that had the word but dropped it when trouble shook him. A good heart is steady, no matter what else is going on the heart of this man, he turns to the word. The Spirit has prepared the soil. The Spirit has opened your ears. Now, will you stay focused on the word? Will you hold it tightly to yourself, or will you let it go in view of all the other things happening in your life?
 
Bear fruit with patience. When I was a child, I was fascinated with seeds and plants. I’d have little containers, and little plastic cups with soil and various seeds. Tomato seeds, green peppers, seeds readily available after fresh food has been prepared. In my enthusiasm, remember I was young, occasionally I’d dig up little seeds to see if they were germinating. Guess what. That is not a good idea!
 
Bearing with patience is allowing the germinating seedling to show itself. It will rise above the soil when it is ready. Prior to germination, to human eyes, the seed is not doing anything. Inside the soil the seed is working as it should. It takes time. That is why patience is required. We want things, NOW. Instant. My needs. My wants. My limited time frame. But the word of God shows us something about the pace of God. He has all the time in the world. He will show us that He works as the Master, not the servant. He will allow various seeds to germinate at just the right time so that the fruitfulness will be evident for His good purposes. Can you wait on God? Can you keep on receiving the word and trust Him for the results?
 
Perhaps you’re neglecting your Bible reading because you think the word is too slow at doing what you think it should (stop being a little child digging up and examining the seed in the soil and give it time to germinate).
 
Perhaps you are neglecting your Bible reading because you think you’re too busy, too much to do. That is the strategy of the devil, to keep you so distracted, so off-balance that you do not turn to the one source of help that will yield true and lasting benefit to your life.
 
Perhaps you are neglecting your Bible reading because you are like a butter knife hovering over a screw. You are not doing what you were made to you. Repeatedly you are trying the same things over again but getting the same bad result. Turn to the word. Let it spread over your heart and get deep in there.
 
Today, read the word. Make a plan to read tomorrow as well. Decide in advance what you’re going to read the next day, so that you don’t waste time thinking, what should I read next?
 
Pray. Ask God to give you the patience you need so that the word of God, sown into your heart, will have time to germinate, grow and produce fruit.
 
Faithful Father, Your word declares:
For as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Slow me down enough to receive the word. Daily. Make me wiser than a little child so that I will trustingly wait until I see the effects of Your word in my life. Accomplish in me, what You purpose. Amen.
 
Quotation: Isaiah 55:10-11 ESV
 

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