Listen!

 "Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow..." Mark 4:3

This is how Jesus introduces the Parable of the Sower- LISTEN!  Hear this! Then he proceeds to share about a farmer who sows seeds on different kinds of soil, and depending on the soil, the seed either gets eaten by birds, or gets scorched by the sun, or gets choked by thorns, or bears abundant fruit. Usually we think of the soil as different types of hearts, and how different kinds of people receive the Word of God. But another way of thinking about Jesus’ story is realizing that most of us receive God's word differently at different seasons of our life.

In 1 Corinthians 3:9, Saint Paul says we are God's field, God's garden. He is the sower, the farmer planting seed. In God's garden of our hearts, He finds different kinds of soil at different times of our life. Sometimes we are very receptive and eager to listen. And His Word finds a place in our heart, but only for a short time. At other times, we are so busy, or so anxious, and God's Word, perhaps given by an office mate as advice, goes out our other ear. But Jesus says, LISTEN! Hear my words! Don't just pick and choose when you want to hear it! Prepare your soil, prepare your hearts to receive My Word. God gives us His wisdom indiscriminately, like the farmer. We may find it in a book we are reading, an Instagram post, when we are out hiking and listening to the sounds of birds, or even while conversing with a stranger! 

If we want a good harvest, a bountiful harvest, we need to prepare our hearts the same way a farmer prepares his soil. A farmer digs up the soil and breaks up the lumps in it. He takes out the rocks, the roots, the weeds. That means we need to examine our life. Is there someone we need to forgive? Is there some wrong doing that needs to be corrected? Lord, I want to bear abundant fruit! Let me see what I need to do in order to have a heart ready to receive Your word with joy!