THE HEART OF THE MATTER

"Behold, a sower went forth to sow" (Matthew 15:3).

Why is it that you pick up your Bible and hear God speaking but your neighbor doesn't hear anything at all? Why is it that children who used to attend church are never there anymore? Why is it that our churches aren't on fire for the Lord?

Perhaps if we travel out to my vegetable garden, we can figure out why. Last summer, I put in 10 healthy tomato plants. I spread them out in different places, interspersed among the raised beds. Most of them produced strong vines that climbed the sturdy cages I set out. But in two other spots, the plants didn't look so good. Their leaves weren't as bright as the others--more of a sickly yellow-green. As the summer progressed, one plant never seemed to grow at all. The others grew by leaps and bounds, but this one barely grew an inch. 

I soon found out the problems in my garden had nothing to do with the plants. But it had everything to do with the soil. The plants that thrived were in compost-rich, fluffy ground. But I planted the others in areas that hadn't been worked much. The ground was hard with clay, too hard for the plants to survive. 

The same thing can happen with us. We can go to church and hear the same message, but the effect can be so radically different. Some will respond and turn to the Lord, others won't budge at all. The problem has nothing to do with the message. We all hear the same words, delivered in the same way. The question that really matters is "What have we done with the message?" Have we really taken it in? 

It's one thing to hear God's saving truth, but it's quite another to receive it. Receiving means more than just listening (just putting in the time to read your Bible or to listen to a sermon). It means soaking it up and taking it in, just like a tomato plant soaks up the nutrients in the soil. 

When I receive God's Word, it comes deep into my  heart; I internalize what God says. And that makes a radical difference in whether I'm growing in grace or not. The Psalmist says, "Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts" (Psalm 51:6). What this boils down to is --God can't save me unless He can penetrate beneath the surface, stir me up, and change me from the inside! A superficial work isn't enough to produce the fruits of the Spirit. The prophet Hosea gets right to the heart of the matter when he says, "Sow for yourselves righteousness" (Hosea 10:12). But for that to happen, I must first  "break up [my] fallow ground" (the ground that's not been plowed). Otherwise, the seeds will have big trouble in taking root. 

The right soil in the heart makes all the difference. Some of us have soil that's packed down as hard as clay, others have stony ground, and still others have soil that's choked with weeds. 

The 1st soil is found by the side of the road. Jesus said, "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in the heart" (Matthew 13:19). Why can't we understand what God says? Not because there's something wrong intellectually. We can't get it because we're not paying attention. 

Now, I don't mean we're distracted. It's more than that. Our heart is so hardened by the world and its "deceitfulness of sin" that our ears are literally turned off! We can't hear the love of Jesus in the words of Scripture or understand that this message is for us! The Bible seems so hum-drum, with very little to offer because our heart is more like a "highway for the world's traffic, its pleasures and sins" (Christ's Object Lessons, pg. 44). This heart needs to be drastically broken up before Jesus can make any contact on the inside.

The stony ground is a little better off, but not much. The Word of God starts out pretty well here. We hear God's truth and are definitely convicted by it. Immediately, we receive it with joy. I mean, Heaven sounds like a great place to live, right? And we're thrilled that Jesus died for us on the cross. We love hearing about His grace and mercy. So,  at first, everything looks pretty good on the outside.  But then the storms come. And the plants that once looked so robust and healthy start to shrivel and die. Jesus says they endure only for a while. "For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles" (Matthew 13:21). The root of the problem is the condition of the soil. There's very little of it. So the roots have no chance of growing deep into the ground. There's no way they can be strong to withstand the onslaught of the storms.

How can our heart be without depth? What's standing in our way? If we dig deep enough, we'll discover there's a huge outcropping of 'self'. This rock of selfishness has never been broken up. We might be convicted about the truth of the Bible, but we don't look at our sins as crucifying the Lord of glory. Jesus is still on the outside, knocking to come in. But we don't open the door! We don't bring the Bible face to face with the way we're living. Self is still calling all the shots. It's what I want, what I think, what I feel. There's  no Lord Jesus in my relationship because I'm still the lord of my life.

How can we be faithful in every situation if we're depending on ourselves to do it? There's no possible way to have victory when we're trusting in our own strength to live a Christian life. Self must die completely before Jesus can change us from the inside. His Word can't become part of us, molding us into His image, unless we're converted by what the Lord says. As Jesus says to us as we once said to Nicodemus, "You must be born again."

Then there's the thorny ground. This heart hears the word of God but "the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful" (Matthew 13:22). God has gotten a foot hold in this heart, but so have many weeds. And like any garden, if the weeds aren't chopped out on a daily basis, they'll cover every inch of ground and eventually the plants will suffocate. 

"Grace can thrive only in the heart that is being constantly prepared for the precious seeds of truth. The thorns of sin will grow in any soil; they need no cultivation; but grace must be constantly cultivated...the work of purification must advance continually" (Christ's Object Lessons, pg. 50). 

"How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your Word. With my whole heart, I have sought You; oh, do not let me wander from Your commandments" (Psalm 119:9,10). The only way I keep weeds out of the garden of my heart is by spending time with Jesus. I don't sense my danger when I'm not frequently in the Word of God. The Bible helps me see myself like I really am, to examine what's deep down inside. It keeps my heart soft and pliable, so when I hear God speak, I jump quickly to do what He says. Not out of a sense of duty or fear, but because I love Him! And that love deepens when I "keep the Lord always before me" (Psalm 16:8, NRS). But too often, Jesus gets crowded out and the thorns take over. 

So it all boils down to 2 things:

How do I spend my time? 
After I read the Bible or go to church, I'm still feeding the seed that God has planted by
what I think about or what I do. If I want God's Word to grow in my life, I have to live in the presence of Jesus during the day. I must train my mind to "seek those things which are above...not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:1,2). Do I talk to Jesus as I go through my day? Am I watching things on TV or somewhere else that are choking out God's Word? How often is Jesus in my thoughts?

What do I do with the Bible?
Studying the Bible isn't enough and neither is praying. I must also apply what I'm learning to my everyday life. What is God's deep purpose for me in the Word? I don't want to be like the foolish man who built his house on the sand. When the storms come, I want to stand for the Lord, though the heavens fall. I want to be a steadfast witness in words and lifestyle. But I can't truly grow in the Lord, unless I'm sanctified by God's message. Application of Scripture brings Jesus deep inside, to totally and radically change who I am. 

Intimacy with Christ depends on how I prepare my heart to live with Him every day. "God bids us fill the mind with great thoughts, pure thoughts. He desires us to meditate upon His love and mercy, to study His wonderful work in the great plan of redemption. Then clearer and still clearer will be our perception of truth, higher and holier our desire for purity of heart...The soul dwelling in the pure atmosphere of holy thought will be transformed by communion with God through the study of the Scriptures" (Christ's Object Lessons, pg. 60). 

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