It is vitally important for ever Christian to grow spiritually. We ought to seek growth in our relationship with God. We do this by preparing the soil of our hearts. That is the theme of this post – prepare the soil of your heart.
God longs for us to prepare our hearts soil, our spiritual soil, so we are receptive to His Word and His plan for our lives so we may bear good fruit.
May your heart become receptive and responsive to the presence, will and love of God as you self-assess your heart and – are open to change – through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Spiritual Soil
22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Matthew 13:22-23
The principle of good and bad soil is something Jesus’s followers would, and should, understood well. The difference between having food or going without, having money or not is achieved by planting in good or bad soil. For their agricultural culture it was a matter of survival.
Jesus’s parable might not have as direct a correlation to us, because we aren’t all agriculturally inclined- its principle remains as important. We all have spiritual soil. Through our wellness, mindfulness and condition of our heart we can receive the seed of God’s word which will in turn yield life-giving fruit. Or, we can allow the soil of our hearts to make us unreceptive to the powerful work God in our lives.
Free Will – God’s Will
It’s incredibly important for us to understand that God will never force his desires on us. He will wait patiently—hoping that open our hearts fully to him. He gently shows us his love, whispers his perfect plans to us, and waits for us to trust Him and surrender. With the grace of God, we can prepare the soil of our hearts, living receptively and surrendered to his loving kindness and perfect will. If we will cultivate a willing heart, God will mold and shape us into children free from the cares of the world and empowered to live Christ-like, fruitful lives.
Take the time to assess your own life. What parts of your heart are hardened to God? Where do you feel unreceptive to his goodness? Where do you need to say yes to God today. God is calling you to a lifestyle of trust and surrender that he might lead you to green pastures and still waters. There is abundant life in store as you cultivate good soil.
May the Holy Spirit help you look honestly at the posture of your heart today as you enter into a time of guided prayer.
How to Prepare your soil
1. Take some time to receive God’s presence.
Open your heart to feel the peace and rest that comes from encountering him.
“My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:14
2. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you ways in which you aren’t fully open to God.
How are you not fully saying yes to God? In what ways are you living your life apart from the leadership and presence of God? Where don’t you fully trust him? Where aren’t you bearing the fruit of the Spirit?
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23
3. Confess those things to God.
Receive his love and forgiveness as you repent and turn away from hardness of heart. Spend time resting in God’s presence and experiencing the new found peace that comes from having your heart more surrendered and receptive to God.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
Preparing our hearts into good soil is important to do daily. The more often you do it, the more you’ll realise the need to have good soil. Having our hearts fully open to God takes the mundane and makes it wonderful. It takes sunsets, conversations, prayers, work, and church and fills them with life, value, beauty, and joy.
Take what you’ve learned today and continue to put it into practice.
Choose to live a life positioned to receive all that God has in store for you. May your day be marked by the fruit of the Spirit.
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