Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:7)
Jesus once told a story about a farmer who was planting seeds. Some of the seeds fell on the hard path and were quickly eaten by birds. Some fell on shallow soil and appeared to grow just fine, but as soon as the hot sun came out they withered and died. A few of the seeds fell into the thorns and were choked out by the more aggressive plants.
Wow. Thanks for the bummer story Jesus.
Yes, if the story had stopped there, it would be a total downer. Thankfully though, the story doesn’t stop there.
Jesus tells us about a fourth group of seeds that landed in good soil. Fertile, life-giving soil, full of nutrients and moist with the water of life. These seeds not only grew, they produced crops that were up to 100-times more than what was planted!
What we often fail to realize though, is this story isn’t really about how to plant seeds. It’s about the condition of your heart.
Or, more specifically, has your heart been tilled and softened to receive the message of God’s grace?
The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted! (Matthew 13:23)
The moment you put your faith in Christ, the soil of your heart was transformed into good soil because of His presence within you! Which means you already have everything you need to establish deep roots into the water of life. Not because you’re a special seed (sorry), but because your roots are planted in special soil.
