The Growth of the Seed : The Four Hearts in Matthew 13:3-23
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The Fourth Heart:
The Good Earth
Eventually the Lord tells us that there is a fourth kind of heart, which is the good earth. "But the one sown on the good earth, this is he who hears the word and understands, who by all means bears fruit and produces, one a hundred-fold, and one sixty-fold, and one thirty-fold" (Matt. 13:23). We might ask ourselves, is the fourth kind of heart born this way? Is the good earth born the good earth? The answer is that every human being is born with the same kind of heart in which many negative things can grow and take place. This is true of everyone. There is no exception. Everyone's heart by nature can become like the first three hearts. So then, whose heart is the good earth? Even among us who love the Lord so much, do we feel that we already have a good heart? Isn't there traffic going through us all the time, causing our heart to become hard? While we are so desirous to love the Lord, aren't there many rocks within us, and aren't these rocks sometimes very large? Aren't we anxious about so many things? Not one of us can say, "Praise the Lord, with me there is no traffic, rocks, or thorns. Within me the Lord is totally free to grow."
For example, none of us has a heart without any rocks. The only difference is that some of us may have a lot of rocks, and some may have only a little. But when any of us hear a word that is not in our favor, we get offended. Every one of us is selfish. We are always looking after our own interests and insisting on our own way. This is why our hearts are rocky. Furthermore, everyone in this world is under the curse. The thorns came because of God's curse after man fell. Everyone lives under God's curse. Who can say that in his life he is out of God's curse already? That is impossible until at least the age of the millennium. Eventually we have to admit that now we live in an age of impossibility. Who can say that there is no traffic? Who can say their heart has no rocks? Who can say that the outside world has no effect on their existence? Who can say, "Praise the Lord, I have a good heart! My heart is just the good earth!" No one can. Basically we must come to the conclusion that there is no good earth. Not one of us has a good heart. In the end, it seems that we are all hopeless.
Yet the Lord did say that there is a condition of the heart which He called the good earth. The way He described it was in verse twenty-three, which we will quote again: "But the one sown on the good earth, this is he who hears the word and understands, who by all means bears fruit and produces, one a hundred-fold, and one sixty-fold, and one thirty-fold." The Lord not only said that there is the good earth, but He showed us the process it goes through. In this verse there is also the hearing of the word and the understanding of the word. To understand here means to grasp. First we hear the word, and then we understand it. We are able to grasp the word's meaning. Then out of this, by all means, we will bear fruit and produce something. The Lord used the words "by all means." What does this mean? It means to make an effort, to pay the price.
The Good Earth: A Heart Ready to be Plowed
How does this apply to us? We need to simply tell the Lord, "Lord, I may have a heart with traffic. I may have a rocky heart. I may have a thorny heart. But Lord, I will pay any price so that my heart can be the good earth. Lord, I am ready. I am willing." The good earth is a heart that is rich and moist. It is a heart that has the readiness to bear fruit. What does this mean practically? This means that the heart is ready to be plowed. If we want the fruit to come out of us, our heart must be ready to be plowed. There is a verse in the Psalms, "the plowers plowed upon my back" (Psa. 129:3). This means that when God works with us, and deals with our person, He is actually plowing us. To plow is to take away all the frustrations which can hinder the growth of the seed. To be plowed is to be purged of stones and thorns. God has a way to purge us out. When we have a lot of stones in our heart, then God will come in to plow. He will allow some environment to come. He will arrange some situations. He will work out some experiences just to purge the rocks within us. If we want to be the good earth, and out heart is truly ready, it means that we are telling the Lord, "I am ready for you to plow."
...cont'd on page 6
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