It is easy for God to come in and plow when our heart is ready. He will take away whatever the obstacles are which frustrate the growth of the seed. When we have too much traffic and our heart has become hard, then God will soften it. When we have rocks within us which make our heart too shallow, then God will purge them out. When we have thorns outside of us which are choking our growth, then God will clear the ground. He will plow us and purge us. He will take care of our heart, and make it the good earth.

No heart is automatically ready for the seeds to grow. We should not take this parable in a doctrinal way. We should not think that there are four kinds of hearts, and ask, "Which kind of heart do I have?" All of us have the first three hearts. We have a heart of traffic, a heart of rocks, and a heart of thorns. But we may not have the fourth heart, the good earth. So we must tell the Lord, "I know I have the first three hearts, and Lord, I'm not the good earth. So Lord, have mercy! I give myself to You. By all means, do whatever You want to do in me. I consecrate myself to You. You can plow me. You can purge me. You can do whatever You must do. You can arrange all the environments, arrange all the situations, give me all the leadings, and do all the things within me so that my heart can be a place for You to grow." Then our heart can become the good earth.

The good earth is not what we think. It's not that our heart just spontaneously becomes the good earth. Every person has the characteristics of the first three hearts, but no person naturally has the last one. No one has a good heart. A good heart means a tender heart. Again, this comes from telling the Lord, "I give You the freedom. By all means, I endeavor to work with You. Whatever You desire, I will cooperate. I have no murmuring, no blaming, and no complaining. I will not exercise self-effort. I will just submit myself to You. Lord, by all means, do something within me. I will pay the price to become fruitful." Only this kind of person can become the good earth for the seeds to grow.

We should also remember that when the seeds grow and bear fruit, they produce a hundred-fold, sixty-fold, and thirty-fold. These numbers are significant. To produce thirty-fold is to meet God's need, because three is the number of God. To produce sixty-fold is to meet man's need, because six is the number of man. And to produce a hundred-fold is to meet both God and man's need, because ten is a number of fullness. That is why the good earth is so valuable. When our heart is the good earth, it will bear fruit thirty-fold to meet God's need, sixty-fold to meet man's need, and a hundred-fold to meet God's and man's need in a full way. Eventually our existence becomes so precious and so valuable to the Lord in His economy.

When we consider these four hearts, we must tell the Lord, "Lord, I am hopeless, but I am also thankful. I can completely give myself to You, so that You may by all means be able to work with me. I would like to be the good earth for the seed within me to grow. I pray that I can become a blessing to Your economy. I pray that I can bear fruit to meet Your need and the need of mankind." How wonderful this is! May the Lord have mercy on us, that we would allow Him to make our heart into the good earth.