The Word Is Our FoundationSample

The Bible: Developing a Soft Heart

Jesus used to communicate using a lot of parables. They were short, punchy stories with a straightforward meaning that always explained something about what faith should be like. One of the most well-known parables has a few different names. Some call it the parable of ‘The Sower’ or ‘The Farmer’ ‘The Seed’ or ‘The Soils’.

To an agricultural society, the parable sounded quite absurd because it was about a farmer who wasted the seed he was planting. What kind of farmer would throw seed on soil that he knew couldn’t produce a crop? The only place you would plant your crop was in carefully prepared soil to give you the best chance of being able to feed your family.

When the confused disciples ask Jesus what the point of the parable is, he explains it to them. Jesus is the farmer, and he’s willing to share his word, the seed, with every single person who will listen, even if they don’t have a soft, prepared, and ready heart.

Jesus explains that God shares His Word with everyone interested, and then He lets us decide how we will respond. Ultimately this parable asks a question of you and me. “What kind of soil do you choose to be? Will you really listen to my Word?” I love how the disciples don’t even understand the parable, but they do one thing right. They ask Jesus to explain it. That’s the right way to listen, asking God to help us understand what we don’t get.

We see that we can have four types of attitudes to God’s Word.

1. The ‘footpath’ heart. We’re curious about God but not invested at all in taking in God’s Word and letting it shape who we are. We don’t have real faith at all; there's no relationship with God.
2. The ‘shallow soil’ heart. We’re convinced that God’s Word is valuable, but we get intimidated by what others think. So our faith shrivels up and becomes nothing more than a religious husk.
3. The ‘thorny soil’ heart. We experience the reality of God but get distracted by the worries of life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for more stuff and experiences. Our faith never becomes the priority; we just give it a bit of space in our materialistic life.
4. The ‘good soil’ heart. We keep choosing to have a soft, listening heart. We talk to God about the challenge of being too busy, too comfortable, and too worried about the stresses of life. We ask God to help us understand the things we don’t get, so we can take in the message and get it properly planted inside us.

Jesus makes it really clear. True followers have a humble, sincere, and soft-hearted attitude toward God's Word. We listen because we want to be shaped by the Word, transformed by the power of His Spirit. We make time and space to pursue a relationship with God which is growing deeper as we encounter Him daily through His Word.

Reflection Questions:

1. How much do I have a ‘footpath’ heart? Do I ever just not truly listen to God?
2. How much do I have a ‘shallow soil’ heart? Do I only listen when it’s comfortable?
3. How much do I have a ‘thorny soil’ heart? Do I get focused on worries and stuff?

We pray that these devotions have been an encouragement to your life and stoked a fresh desire to dive into the Word of God daily to discover all He has for you.

This devotion was prepared for you by the team at HopeUC. If you would like to know more about following Jesus, we'd love to connect with you at hopeuc.com