We all have had friends that have had heart problems. Some need a stent, or a by-pass, or transplant. Heart disease is in important issue. But I don’t want to talk about the condition of our physical heart, we need to diagnose our spiritual heart.Somewhere within each of us is a spiritual heart that is the center of our being. It controls our will and desires, our motives and actions. It is the most important and vital part of who we are. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.”Just as our physical heart can suffer from disease, so can the spiritual heart — and spiritual heart disease is more serious and deadly than physical heart disease. It affects our eternal destiny.Jesus taught a parable and then explained it to His disciples because it was all about the condition of our hearts. This parable had to do with sowing the Word of God and where that seed was planted. This parable has been called the “Parable of the Sower,” but it could more accurately be called the “Parable of the Soils,” because it is not so much about the sower as it is about the types of soils on which the seed falls—that is our hearts.So Jesus tells this story about a person who sowed seed in his field in Mark chapter 4. It is also told in Matthew and Luke. The first type of soil, or heart, was the hardened heart, that is the pathway where people walked all the time. The soil may have been good soil, but it has been hardened by constant trampling. The seed that fell on these paths just bounced on the hard surface and sat there until the birds came and ate the seeds. Jesus explains later that this was Satan who took away the seed—God’s word. Too often we may hear God’s word, but it just sits there and never takes root or grows.The second type of soil, or heart, was the rocky soil, where there was not much soil. The seed fell and germinated, but with the heat and sun of the day the young tender plants could not survive. Jesus explains that when distress or persecution comes, many will fall away (Mk. 4:16-17). It is important for us to get rid of the “rocks” in life so God’s word can grow and ...
