My Dad was a great farmer. He had a great love and a great passion to cultivate a variety of seeds in the land, mostly beans, corns, rice etc. He could spend hours and hours to prepare the soil with his team without tired. He had been successful, everything he had, house, car, and other possessions, was tied to the crops that he produced in the soil. As the farmer of the land was living by the seeds he planted into the ground, so too we, as spiritual farmers, live by the Word of God.
In today’s gospel, Jesus used a parable to explain us something spiritual through something material.
In the four types of soils that Jesus mentioned, I will focus on the good and fertile one; I will stress on what will make the soil productive.
Jesus considers the good soil as a good heart, and the seed as his Word.
If you have a good soil meaning if you have a good heart, the seed or the Word of God is going to be productive.
What is the real message of Jesus through the parable of the gospel today? The real message is that we need to prepare our soil, our heart. We need to do it as my Dad did for his land. Create time to let the seed or the Word of God dwell in our heart permanently. Create time for our heart to become a good and fertile soil through the Word of God, the seed of the truth.
The question we may raise here is that: How can our heart be a good soil and a fertile ground?
First, we must study regularly the Word of God with all diligence; open the Book of Life daily and allow God to sow His words into our hearts; and keep the ear of our heart tender and receptive to hear God speaking through His mighty words.
Second, we must ask God to purify our heart, and make it ready to transform it into a beautiful vineyard for his glory.
This is a spiritual preparation to receive the word of God, the seed of the truth, and be productive as any good farmer.
My Dad never liked to get involved in politics, because he believed that he could have anything he wanted by working hard on the land, preparing and sowing the seed on the soil.
By the same token, if we prepare the soil of our heart and let the seed, the word of God, dwell in it, our final destiny will be secured because our destiny determined by the way we apply the Word of God in our daily life. What can make our heart productive?
A better understanding about the Word of God is important for this question.
The Word of God is life and more importantly, it has eternal life.
Jesus said this, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35).
The Word of God is like a map that provides guidance and direction. It shows us the way to go and what to avoid. When we are lost, it is there to guide us back to the right path. And when we are feeling alone, it is there to comfort us and remind us that God is with us.
This Word is a sure foundation that we can build our lives upon. All the time, we should claim as David, “ The word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path” (Psalm 119:105).
According to Paul, this Word allows us to grow our faith knowing that God will transform our heart into a good soil even though we don’t see materializing yet. For instance, for the 275/150 anniversary, we have faith that God will provide us all that we need to celebrate his glory because of his Word that dwell into the soil of our heart.
Paul said this, “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
We must plant the Word of God into our heart daily, to grow our faith. This allows us to walk through the harvest of sincerity, honesty, love and passion that falls in us like rain.
I want you to know today the Word of God is the most precious food for our heart. It can transform our heart into a good and fertile soil. The Word of God can pierce our hearts, reveal the truth to us, and point us to Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation.
Just ask God to help us to store up his word in our heart, that we might not sin against Him.
More than ever, today, we are living in a desperate world, and I urge to humbly accept the word planted into our hearts. I keep saying, in my sermon, read the Word of God, understand it, meditate on it, and apply it in your daily life. As I said previously, this Word has eternal life.
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
Again, let hide God’s Word in our hearts so that we might not sin against Him.
Take a habit to read the Word of God. Here a little practice, each time you come to church, go to one of the location of the Bible, so-called the Book of life, turn the page once and read one or two verses and ask the question what does God want to tell me today. I want you to remember that the only way to have a good heart, a fertile soil, the only way to produce a bumper crop, the only way to become a true spiritual farmer is to spend some time to read the Word of God, to listen to it, meditate on it, and apply it in our daily life.
May it be so. Amen
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