Luke 8:15

Luke 8:15 - But the good soil stands for those with a noble heart, who hear the word, retain it and by persevering produce a crop.

In this passage Jesus is alone with His disciples explaining to them a parable He had just finished teaching to the crowd. In this story Jesus spoke of seed that was sown in the field. As it was scattered, the seed landed on one of four different types of soil. First, Jesus speaks of seed falling on the path, which is eaten by the birds. Then He goes on to the rocky soil. Here the plants sprouted, but quickly dried up because they had no root. Next is the thorns. As the seed landed here, plants grew, but were choked out by the weeds. And lastly Jesus speaks of the good soil. Here the seed landed and took root and produced a crop. 

Once alone the disciples ask Jesus to explain this story to them because they did not understand it. As He begins to tell them the meaning of His story He tells them that the seed represents the Word of God and the soils represent mens hearts. Each soil type compares to a man’s heart and how they react when they hear the Word of God. Some men hear the Word, but the devil immediately steals it away before it can take root. Other’s hear it and get excited, but it’s not rooted, so once a test or trial comes they fall away. Then He explains the seed among the thorns. These people hear the word, but the worries and stresses of life end up “choking” it away. Lastly, Jesus speaks of the seed that fell on good soil. This soil represents “those with a noble and good heart.” 

That should be our goal. We should desire our heart to be like the good soil. Our goal should be to produce a crop. Only God can mold and shape our hearts so that we are ready to receive the Word, but it is our choice to let Him. He won’t do anything without us asking Him to. It is our decision to open ourselves up to God, so that He can work in us. In the Psalms David prayed, “Create in me a pure heart.” While Jesus has already created a new heart in us when we received Him, we should still ask that He purify our heart, due to the sin we sometimes let in. That should be our prayer everyday as we seek to know God more and strive to reflect His glory in all we do.

Now comes the hard part. Jesus didn’t say that the good soil automatically produced a crop. Once our hearts are ready, we receive the Word and it grows in us. In order to produce a crop, though, Jesus says we have to persevere. So we know that it will not always be easy. There will be trials and hard times that we will have to push through. We do not have to do it alone, though. Thank God for Jesus, who will always be with us to give us the strength we need to make it, no matter the circumstance.