Amend the soil of your hearts ∙
The seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted! – Mark 4:20
Mark 4:3-9
3 Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed.
4 As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it.
5 Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow.
6 But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died.
7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain.
8 Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!
9 Then he said, Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.
Rice farming requires a great deal of weed control and proper fertilization. Weeds and overgrowth make it very difficult and time-consuming when performed by people alone. The Japanese overcame this challenge using an agricultural technique they developed known as aigamo. The solution was simple, “working ducks.” Commercial Japanese rice farms “employ” ducks. Ducks wade through rice paddies, nibble at undergrowth and weeds, and provide natural fertilization. The Japanese art of aigamo provides reliable, ecologically-sound rice agriculture.
Erik Andrus, a rice farmer, and owner of Boundbrook Farm, Vermont, sought answers. He found them in The Power of Duck by Takao Furuno. Andrus uses a breed of ducks called mulards for rice farming. They are active foragers. He started with 600 ducklings, mostly females, because they are smaller and more nimble than the males. The ducks stay in the fields for roughly six weeks before the grain develops on the rice plant. They provide superb weed control. They won’t eat the rice plant because of its high silica content. This innovative practice has become a crucial part of his farming success. And the rest is history (Jillian Dara).
Over the millennia, people have discovered how to improve and enrich growing environments for many kinds of crops. How can we enhance the soil of our hearts to facilitate spiritual growth? Are there weeds and thorns mixed in?
The Word of God provides spiritual seed planted in human hearts. Human hearts are likened to various kinds of soil. Some hearts are inhospitable to the word of God. Others are indifferent, opportunistic, or extraordinarily open and inviting.
How can we improve the soil of our hearts to be more fertile ground for spiritual truth?
REFLECT & PRAY
“The Christian life is not a playground; it is a battleground, and we must be on our guard At all times” (Wiersbe).
Father, create in me a soft, pliable, receptive heart. Enable me to amend the soil of my heart so that it may be receptive and fertile for the seed of the Word of God.
INSIGHT
To make our hearts more receptive and responsive to the word of God, it is incumbent upon us to amend the soil of our hearts, cultivating and enriching the soil of our inner being. By doing so, our hearts become fertile ground, consistently attuned to and embracing the teachings of God. As we nurture the soil of our hearts, we invite the Father, the master gardener, to take over.
The Father will address the roots of the weeds and thorns that have taken hold in our lives over the years. They took a lifetime to accumulate. Therefore, it will take time, months, or even years to restore our depleted soil caused by life’s challenges and our poor, rebellious, or ignorant choices.
How do we begin to grant the Father access? We start by eliminating the obvious.
1 Peter 2:1 advises us to rid ourselves of all evil behavior, including malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.
Understanding these terms is crucial:
Malice: harboring ill and evil intentions toward others.
Deceit: guile (dolos) engaging in trickery or cunning.
Hypocrisy: insincerity, pretense, and sham. Pretending to be someone we are not.
Envy: Jealousy simply seeks what others have. But Envy goes beyond that. Seeks to deprive others of what they have. Envy is the feeling of displeasure produced by observing or hearing of the advantage or prosperity of others (Vine).
Slander: improving one’s image by belittling others.
Let’s also consider a few definitions (Stanley):
Anger: a strong feeling of intense displeasure or hostility due to real or imagined threats or injustices.
Forgiveness is giving up resentment (anger) against someone and your right to get even, no matter what has been done to you.
Unforgiveness is the deliberate, willful refusal to give up one’s resentment and right to get even based on the attitude that someone must pay for the wrong done.
We are encouraged to study, meditate on, and memorize God’s Word, allowing it to regenerate the soil of our hearts in ways only the Father can achieve.
Caution: Diving deep into God’s Word and exploring its depths can be challenging and even painful.
Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, revealing our innermost thoughts and desires.
The Father has already planted the seeds within your heart; let Him cultivate the harvest. Through the renewal of your mind and heart, new thinking and life will emerge and blossom.
Romans 12:1-2
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then, you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
The Greek term translated as “do not copy” or “do not be conformed” is syschematizo. Syschematizo means being conformed, shaped, fashioned, or molded into a particular form. The idea is to cease allowing oneself to be pressed into a mold. The world is pressing us into its mold.
The Greek verb is in the present imperative passive. It commands us to stop allowing ourselves to be fashioned after the pattern of this evil age (Hendriksen). It’s akin to avoiding the behavior of a chameleon that changes its color to match its environment (Barclay).
The Greek word aion can be translated as “world” or “age.” Aion represents the subtle, informing spirit of the world (kosmos). The aion applies pressure to our lives to be alienated and separated from God (Bengel). Aion influences our thoughts, opinions, maxims, beliefs, principles, speculations, desires, hopes, impulses, aims, and aspirations. It is akin to being in an environment that envelops us. It is like the air we breathe. We inhale, absorb, and ultimately exhale (Trench).
The word metamorphoomai, translated as “be transformed,” is a present imperative passive verb. It suggests a continual process of being transformed by the Father from the inside out. When our thinking changes, our actions change. As our mindset shifts, our actions follow.
Matthew 9:4 Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts?”
Right action should and will follow right thinking.
Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is.
Ephesians 4:22-24
24 In reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯4-06-2
© Dr. H 2024
Dr H Reflections 