The condition of your Heart | Sun Feb 20th | 2022 Year of Abundant Harvest

Today we will be learning in a follow-up manner from our previous series. The topic for today is “The condition of your heart.”

Last Sunday we talked about how seed is compared to the word of God via a oarable from the Gospel of Mark. These parables are simple stories which gives us understanding.

We will focus on first two soils…

First seed was a hard and resisting ground.

“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

Jesus explains this in the later verses….

And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.

Birds here is the enemy, who take away the word of God from our hearts via many ways. One of the important weapon of enemy here is distraction, that we learned few days back as well in the series “Enemy’s greatest weapon: Distraction!”

The second place where seed falls…

Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.

This rocky plain is not a common ground. In such cases, the soil is not sufficient to raise a seed. The Bible says, it sprang quickly and soon it withered. The reason is because there were no strong roots.

Jesus explains this later in the verses…

And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.

Let us yalk about these people in detail today:

1- Firstly, the rocky soul is the people who hear the word of God on a very emotional level. However quickly gone when the time of testing cones, they are gone. Because their faith is shallow and they are not rooted well in the word of God. These are the people who are excited about the Bible and the word of God, however there is no substance to their excitement or towards the word of God.

2- Secondly, these are the people who hear the word of God, however their faith is not developed. Eventhough these people see the gospel and grow quickly and accept everything what the word of God say immediately and gladly. Hearing and accepting with joy shouldnt be our only benchmark. This also doesn’t confirms genuinity, because when persecution comes, they are not prepared because the word has not entered deep in their heart.

3- These are the people who never make a genuine commitment to the Lord. They fail to understand that in order to follow Jesus, they have to carry their own cross. There are many people who do not like to make commitment in their lives. Even married couples are not committed in many cases  If we talk about today’s generation, couples would prefer a live-in relationship rather than getting married, since there are no commitments and all the benefits of marriage are available.

In the old testament, we will read that covenants were so important, eventhough there were terms and conditions attached to it. Which also gives a message that this commitment is very important. If you have to follow God, there has to be a commitment, otherwise they can not just enjoy the blessings and gifts by God.

God is looking for committed people. If you are not a committed person, then there is a problem with your faith. This raises a question, that what sort of soul you are?

One of the very practical examples in the Bible is the life if Joseph. Joseph had an opportunity, where he could have slept with Pharaoh’s wife and would have earned wealth and fame. However, Joseph was committed to God and this was a very difficult situation for him. Nevertheless, he stayed committed when the teouble came.

Allow the word of God to go deep down in your heart, otherwise when difficulty arrises, you will fall away.

We have seen people, who are regular at church. They even used to counsel other people. Have fallen from their faith.

Who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

John the apostle, when he was persecuted, he

4: Fourthly, rocky soil is the kind of people who consider religion over relation. They will do all the formalities of religion, however neglect the inner transformation.

Rocky soil represents that we have no relationship with him.

Peter was very passionate but fell. However, when Jesus was resurrected and met Peter; Peter became a changed man. The word of God was so penetrated inside his heart, they he gladly accepted his persecution and requested to be hanged upside down on his cross to ensure he doesn’t matches that of his master, Jesus Christ.

Are you productive? What are the fruits you are growing? Sometimes our hearts are clogged with muddy waters and dirt.

In order to take these things out, it takes work. And to begin this task, first amd formost, you need to begin with obedience.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Don’t let the word to fall on ground that birds will take away. Neither ket the word fall on the rocky grounds.

God seeks committed people and needs to see the harvest from you. However it will not happen if the seed is not planted on the right soil. Remember, without seed there is no harvest.

What is the condition of your heart people? Are you following God, so that you can enjoy some blessings and benefits? If you feel, you are not committed enough and that you feel the the word of God is not deeply rooted in your heart, then today is the time to change that. And in order to change, you need to obey; obey the word of God.