October
11, 2003
OTHER
SEED FELL ON GOOD GROUND
"A
sower went out to sow... But others fell on good ground and
yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" (Matthew 13:3,
8, 9, NKJV).
Of the
seed that fell onto good ground, Jesus said, "He
who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word
and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some
a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty" (Matthew
13:23). "But the ones that fell
on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with
a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience"
(Luke 8:15).
The sower
will not always be disappointed. The one "who hears the
word and understands it" or who is of "a
noble and good heart" is not someone who is without
sin. The gospel is preached to the lost. Jesus said, "I
did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance"
(Mark 2:17). The one who yields to the conviction of the Holy
Spirit is the one who Jesus says "hears
the word and understands it' and has "a
noble and good heart". He confesses his guilt,
and feels his need of the love and mercy of God. He has a
sincere desire to know the truth, that he may obey it.
The good
heart is the believing heart, one that has faith in the word
of God. Without faith and trust in the word of God, who are
we to believe? "Without faith it is impossible to please
Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and
that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him"
(Hebrews 11:6).
The good-ground
hearer receives the word "not as the word of men, but
as it is in truth, the word of God" (1 Thessalonians
2:13). Only the ones who receive the Scriptures as the voice
of God speaking to them are true learners. The word of God
to them is a living reality. They open their understanding
and heart to receive it.
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