A Compilation of Grace

Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Matthew 13:3-9 NKJV

This parable is told in the broader sense of the field being the world (the hearts of the people of the world), but it can also be looked at as the field being an individual. The Bible speaks of our hearts as being fields. At any point in our lives, we can have one or more of the soil types described in our hearts.

The Good Ground Takes Work

The good ground is soft, without stones, weed and thorn free. This is fruitful ground. Any garden space needs to have the ground prepared in order for the plants to thrive. A field that will yield an abundantly fruitful crop takes much intense labor.

When America was first settled, the pioneers had to clear forests to gain fields for planting. Even on the grass covered prairies, they had challenging work preparing the ground. The grass roots were so tough and well established that John Deere invented a special plow to cut through the prairie sod more easily.

The strips of sod they plowed up were so thick that they were cut into “bricks” and used to build houses, barns, and fences. Even after cutting away the sod and tilling the soil, the pioneers often only planted what they called “sod” corn, potatoes, and squash the first year, because they grew a little better in rougher soil. It would be another year before they planted crops like wheat and oats that needed finer soil.

Preparing the Ground

So, what does it take to get the ground ready for planting? First comes plowing to break up the soil. Then any large rocks that the plow turned up need to be removed. The next step is tilling the field to break up the large clods of dirt and loosen the soil for planting. One of the final steps before planting is raking the soil. This creates fine dirt for planting by further smoothing out any remaining clumps of soil and making a level planting surface. For row crops, the last step is setting the plow to create furrows for planting. During this process, the ground can also be fertilized to improve the quality of the soil.

Importance of Preparation

We have a field on our farm that had been used for pasture and hay for many, many years. My nephew wanted to help provide more income for the farm, so he decided to plant a row crop. Our fields weren’t as tough to plow as the original prairies of the Midwest, but preparing them for planting was still very labor intensive.

For some reason, a few rows at one end of the field weren’t broken up enough, so there were still some larger clods of dirt in them. The plants that were set there didn’t grow as tall as those set in the rows where the soil was finer, because it was more difficult for the roots to spread out in the harder ground. This shows why each step in the process of preparing a field for planting is so important.

I’ve already shared some of the ways the soil of our heart is prepared to receive the Word of God, by keeping paths from being created through the fields, removing any stones, and getting rid of the thorny weeds. After all of that, the ground still needs to be plowed and smoothed as well.

Making the Ground Good

How is the ground of our hearts made good, ready to grow a fruitful crop? It is in fellowship with Jesus. He wants to spend time with you and me. Each one of us is extremely important to him. The following are some of the ways we can spend time with Jesus.

PRAYER

This isn’t just us talking, asking for things we need or want. This is also about taking time to listen to Jesus. He wants to speak to us, and anyone can hear him if they take the time to listen. It may require some practice, but you may be surprised to find that he has been talking to you all along. Even spending 10 or 15 minutes quietly waiting on him can be life changing. He does speak to each of us. We can hear and know his voice (John 10:3,4).

THE WORD OF GOD

One of the best ways to get to know Jesus is by reading the Bible. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1,14 NKJV

The written Word of God speaks to us of the living Word, Jesus, but the written Word is also rich, deep, and alive. Although his Word never changes, I can read something I’ve read many times over and still receive something new from it. I love digging into it and discovering things that are hidden there!

Various Versions & Original Languages

There are many different versions of the Bible, so it isn’t difficult to find one that is easy to read and understand. I like to look at different versions and see the many ways the ideas in the verses are shown. When I have a question about how a word is interpreted in a version, I go back and look at what the word means in the original language.

Even when I don’t have a question about the meaning as it’s interpreted, I like to look at words in the Hebrew or Greek. For me, doing this is like a treasure hunt. I never know what I’m going to find! Sometimes a word that seems to have an obvious meaning ends up having an amazing underlying one.

How the Word Can Change Us

I read a book called Sacred Pathways by Gary Thomas. In it, he shares about nine temperaments and the ways they naturally relate to God—how they feel closest to God when spending time with and worshipping him (most of us being a blend of several). In the chapter on the traditionalist (one who loves God through ritual and symbols), it mentioned that some church traditions read the same Psalm every morning and another Psalm every night like a prayer. I decided to try that, choosing my own Psalm for reading. Every night before I went to sleep, I read aloud Psalm 63. One of the things I found that this does is it helps you memorize Scripture. After reading it every night for a month, I had it almost completely committed to memory.

Something I didn’t expect to happen was how reading that Psalm would affect me. Psalm 63 (NKJV) begins, “O God, you are my God; early will I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.” I love seeking God in the Scriptures! Even so, I can have a tough time rising early and not being distracted. One day I realized that after reading those words over and over again for more than a month, I was having an easier time getting up early for my quiet time, and I wasn’t as easily distracted from that time. I was saying the words, and they became more than words—they were real in my life!

WORSHIP

This doesn’t just mean singing worship songs in church; although, it is that. It can be telling God thank you for who he is, for his blessings, for the beauty we see around us… When we do sing worship songs to him, they don’t have to be ones that that others have written. They can be songs that come from our own hearts. It can be dancing, art, and even sitting still in silent awe of our Creator God as we gaze on his amazing creation. We can worship God in anything we do by doing our best for him.

Let every activity of your lives and every word that comes from your lips be drenched with the beauty of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One. And bring your constant praise to God the Father because of what Christ has done for you! Colossians 3:17 TPT

FELLOWSHIP

When we fellowship with other believers, we are taking part in the life of Body of Christ. For though we are many, we’ve all been mingled into one body in Christ. This means that we are vitally joined to one another, with each contributing to the others. Romans 12:5 TPT

Church

One of the first things this likely brings to mind is being in church. Being connected to others through the church gives us the opportunity to learn more about God from those who are teaching. We can also learn more about God from those who are around us, which is why fellowship with other believers anywhere is good. Plus, there is nothing like corporate worship… hearing all those voices raised together, bringing glory to God can be overwhelmingly beautiful!

When we gather together, maybe someone has a testimony about what God is doing in their life, and it is something we want God to do for us or someone we know too. We are encouraged by their testimony. Maybe someone has a word from God for everyone in the Body or just for an individual. God can use others to meet a need we have, or give us something to help meet someone else’s need.

Small Groups

Fellowship doesn’t just have to be at church. Jesus says in Matthew 18:20 (TPT), “For wherever two or three come together in honor of my name, I am right there with them!” It is good to be part of a smaller group as well, where deeper connections can be made than are possible in church on a Sunday.

Messy Interactions

Sometimes interactions with other people are messy and feelings get hurt. We can use those times to grow more in God in understanding ourselves and others, and in things like forgiveness and mercy. Our pastor says that she loves offense, because it makes her stop and look deeper at what is actually causing the offense in her. Then she is able to see if there is something that needs to change in her heart.

Friendships

In my Bible, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 is titled “The Value of a Friend.” It speaks of two being better than one, because they can help each other if one falls, keep each other warm, and stand together against an enemy. A good friend can also help us see areas that we might need to work on. Proverbs 27:17 (MSG) says, “You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another.” This can refer to those messy interactions I talked about, but it especially refers to the natural give and take of friendship—the rubbing of shoulders as we walk through life together and encourage each other along the way.

Jesus Is Always Working

Even when we aren’t spending time with Jesus—or if we are but are trying to ignore something that needs to be taken care of—he is always working in and around our hearts. Maybe he is softening the hard places, or poking around rocks and weeds lightly loosening the soil that holds them. All of this is in preparation for the time we are ready to surrender to him and allow him to move in earnest in our hearts, bringing about full healing and freedom in that area.

Troubling Foxes

It takes faithful perseverance and patience in tending the soil to see the fruit of a crop. Besides trespassers, stones, and weeds, we can have infestations of critters that can spoil the crops. The following verse speaks of a vineyard rather than a field of wheat. No matter what the crop is though the concept of field preparation and maintenance is still the same. You must catch the troubling foxes, those sly little foxes that hinder our relationship. For they raid our budding vineyard of love to ruin what I’ve planted within you. Will you catch them and remove them for me? We will do it together. Song of Songs 2:15 TPT

I love how Jesus doesn’t expect us to do the work of healing and maturing to walk with him in freedom on our own. Yes, we have input and effort to make, but Jesus is the one who makes true healing and freedom possible.

Bearing Much Fruit

When the soil of our hearts is well prepared, we hold onto the seeds of the Word so they grow and bear fruit for God… fruit that we can share with others, so that they can have seeds to grow and bear fruit to share… and on and on it goes—yielding one hundred, or sixty, or thirty-fold over what was originally planted.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked TPT are from The Passion Translation®. Copyright © 2017, 2018, 2020 by Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ThePassionTranslation.com.