Bearing Fruit

"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." (1)

Good-ground hearers, having heard the word, keep it. Satan with all his agencies of evil is not able to take it away. "A knowledge of the truth depends not so much on strength of intellect as upon pureness of purpose, the simplicity of an earnest, dependent faith. To those who in humility of heart seek for divine guidance, angels of God draw near. The Holy Spirit is given to open to them the rich treasures of the truth." (2)

Merely to hear or to read the word is not enough. One who desires to benefit from the Scriptures will meditate on the truth that has been presented to him. By earnest attention and prayerful meditation he will learn the meaning of the words of truth. God bids us to fill the mind with great and pure thoughts. He desires us to meditate on His love and grace, to study His wonderful provision of the great plan of salvation. Then our perception of truth will become clearer and still clearer. "The soul dwelling in the pure atmosphere of holy thought will be transformed by communion with God through the study of the Scriptures." (3)

Those who hear the word and keep it, will bring forth fruit in obedience. The word of God received into the soul will be manifest in the life. Its results will be seen in the actions of life. Jesus said, "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (4) The word of God often comes in collision with man's hereditary and cultivated traits of character and habits of life. The good-ground hearer, in receiving the word, accepts its conditions and requirements. His habits, customs, and practices are brought into submission to God's Holy Spirit and Word.

No one who receives the word of God is exempt from difficulty and trial. When affliction comes, the true Christian does not become restless, distrustful, or despondent. Though we can not see the outcome, or discern the purpose of God's providence, we are not to distrust His leading. Remembering the tender mercies of Jesus, we can cast our care on Him, and with patience wait for His deliverance. Jesus said, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him." (5)

1. Matthew 13:23.
2. Christ's Object Lessons, p. 59.
3. Christ's Object Lessons, p. 60.
4. John 13:35.
5. John 14:23.