It’s that time of year again when many are planting gardens. Even if you are not gardening this year, or a gardener at all, you know why gardens are planted. Every spring, depending on what you plant in your garden, you anticipate fresh vegetables for your table or beautiful flowers to decorate your yard.
Knowing what you know about gardens also helps you understand Jesus’ parable about the soils (Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8). When seed is planted, a harvest is expected. You also know that the better the soil, the better the harvest. The seed is the same, but rocks and weeds and other things can affect how that seed produces.
Now, let’s imagine our hearts as a garden free of rocks and weeds. That’s what Jesus wants us to do. Yet Jesus knows Satan will do his best to harden our hearts or make it as difficult as he can for the good seed of God’s word to grow in our hearts. But Jesus is more powerful than Satan. And so are we, if we choose to be. It’s our choice to hear God with understanding and allow His word to produce a rich harvest in us. That’s what good hearts do. Good hearts are not shallow or dry. Good hearts are not overgrown with worries and distractions which prevent our being fruitful. Good hearts always produce fruit. No exceptions!
That doesn’t mean that good hearts are all alike nor are any hearts perfect. Neither does it mean that good hearts will all produce the same amount of fruit. According to Jesus’ parable, the good soil produced varying amounts – some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty (Matthew 13.9).
Again, Jesus said good hearts always produce fruit. That’s because fruitfulness is the natural result of hearts that are willing, teachable and rooted in God and His word. When God’s seed is planted in good and honest hearts (Luke 8.15) a harvest is inevitable. When God’s word is growing in your heart, it will show!
However, what good hearts produce is not always equal. Some produce 30x, some 60x, and some 100x. Not everyone’s yield is the same because good hearts are not all the same. This isn’t a judgment, but a recognition of diversity, gifting and opportunity. What matters to God is not how much you produce, but that you produce because you are faithful with what you’ve been given (Matthew 25.14-30). As Paul wrote, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Corinthians 3.6). To God, a 30x harvest is just as much a good heart as a 100x harvest. So, don’t compare yourself with others. Make sure your heart is good by truly listening to God (Matthew 13.13-17), and trusting Him for the harvest. And be patient. A harvest always takes time (Luke 8.15). “Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear” (Matthew 13.16).
Joe Chesser
