Jan 26, 2021
(Heb.10:11-18; Ps.110:1-4; Mk.4:1-20)
“I will put my laws in their hearts
and I will write them on their minds.”
He will plant His seed firmly upon “good soil,” and it shall yield fruit abundantly. Let us be open to receive His word each day.
Today we hear Jesus’ well-known parable of seed sown in four places: “on the path,” “on rocky ground,” “among thorns,” and “on good soil”; and the Lord makes clear that only in the last place will the seed bear a profitable yield. And, of course, the Lord hereby calls each of us to consider what place we make for the seed with our lives. Clearly, “what the sower is sowing is the word,” and just as clearly, our hearts are the ground into which that word is sown. Therefore, the question is: What kind of hearts have we for the word of God, for His love? The seed does not change; in every place it is sown the same. It is only the soil which changes, and thus determines its fruitfulness. Are our hearts barren of the Spirit, or wrought with stones or choking thorns… or do we make a welcome place for the love of God to take root in our lives and grow? Though our tree shall be known by its fruit, only we really know where our heart stands with God, and so this question Jesus would bring to our minds, not to condemn us for our emptiness or hardness of heart, but that we might turn to Him and bear fruit in His light, that He might take away the “sins and… transgressions” that keep us void of life.
Do you know the Spirit at work in your hearts, brothers and sisters, at work in your souls? Is His word taking root in you and being nourished by the waters of the Lord? “To you the mystery of the reign of God has been confided,” and so, what a pity it would be to turn from His instruction, or fall short at all in preparing a place for the Lord to reside. The Spirit burning in our hearts, the blessing of His pure light, is all we should thirst for in our lives. “Like the dew” before the dawn He comes; each morning you should find yourself wet with that dew and set to do good works in His name.
Yes, brothers and sisters, upon the heart of each of His children, the Lord God writes His name, places His law, His love, by the blood of His only Son. He thus makes us one with His infinite presence, ever giving growth to our tree. With His word piercing our souls, our soil is prepared to receive His seed. Let us therefore open our hearts to His light touch – His finger, His breath, His word, inscribing His NAME at the center of our being – and we shall grow in Him even unto the kingdom.
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O LORD, let us be cleansed of our sin by your Son
that we might be good soil
to receive the Word He offers
and bear fruit in your NAME.
YHWH, our sins and transgressions remember no more; the blindness of our minds and hardened of our hearts take from us forever. By the sacrifice of your Son this is accomplished in our lives. Let us be good ground to receive His Word and bear fruit in His Name.
Jesus sits forever at your right hand, O LORD; He remains there ever to cleanse us from our sin. His sacrifice is complete and whole; let it be made effective in our lives.
Rule over us, O LORD our God, through the scepter of your only Son. By the power that is His from you, let our days be ordered as holy flowerbeds. Good soil indeed let us be, not choked by the world or weakened by the flesh or robbed of the Spirit by the devil – let our hearts be set on you alone and in you and in your Son find growth and bear fruit. May His blood water us well and His light shine through us always.