Where is your heart?

Holden Arboretum has become one of my favorite places to hike. With all the beautiful areas to explore, what draws me most is the woods. The woods bring a sense of serenity to my heart as I travel the trails. Gazing up at towering trees, I feel incredibly small compared to their height. Massive trunks support branches and leaves. Animals scurry about trying to hide from my view. From evergreens to tall maples, the trees create a canopy over me as I walk. The birds flit around as I explore, looking for differences from my previous visits.

My discoveries include a standing tree with a hole clear through the middle! Other trunks have a portion of the outside missing, revealing decay taking place on the inside. The rotted wood leads to weakness and with a great gust of wind, even an enormous tree will fall to the forest floor. Other fallen trees crisscross the ground, but the cause of their fall is not always from a weakened or hollowed inside. Some have fallen because of their roots. With strong wind, a huge tree will topple over if the roots are not deep. Maybe the soil was rocky, maybe the roots of the tree settled in surface water. Whatever the case when the winds came, the great tree fell and exposed its shallow roots. The once splendid life of the tree was at an end.

The shallow roots remind me of Jesus’ Parable of the Sower found in Luke 8.

“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Luke 8:5-8)

In those days, the farmer’s method of sowing seed was to scatter it by hand in his prepared furrows. Even the very word “scattering” gives you an idea of the randomness of where each seed would land.

Some fell along the well-traveled, hardened path unable to penetrate the concrete-like soil, and the seeds were trampled and eaten by birds. Others fell among rocky soil, which was often an actual layer of rock beneath the surface. This prevented the roots of the growing seed from finding sustaining water. Some seeds were scattered among seemingly good soil, but even diligent plowing could not remove all the roots of a thorn. Towering over the growing plant, the thorns blocked the sun and choked out life. Some of the scattered seed did make its way into the neatly furrowed rows where good, clean soil was ready to receive it. The plants grew and flourished, providing the needed produce for the farmer.

The seed used by the farmer was the same in each type of soil. The preparation of the soil made the difference. Good, clean soil received the seed well, providing the perfect conditions leading to growth and fruit.

Using this familiar scene, Jesus explained a spiritual truth to the people, one we also need to glean in our day.

The seed represents the Word of God, and the different types of soil describe the different types of hearts. A hardened heart will not allow the truth of God’s Word to penetrate and soon this person’s heart becomes hardened against the truth and will not receive it. One who holds a rocky heart joyfully receives God’s Word but does not allow the truth to take root. Their foundation is weak, so when the difficulties and storms of life come, they are unable to stand and fall away. A thorny heart allows the worries or the pleasures of this world to choke out the truth of the gospel. Choices are made for the things of this world rather than the eternal, and God is blocked out. Growth diminishes and fruit does not mature. One who allows the truth of God’s Word to penetrate their heart and mind lives a life of growth into His likeness, producing fruit that honors Him.

Where is your heart?

“As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.” (Proverbs 27:19)

Whether you realize it or not, more than just you and God know your heart. What happens in your heart is reflected in how you live your life. Make sure that reflection is the result of time with the Lord. Allow your heart to be in a condition ready to receive God’s truth. Search the scriptures daily and know Him. Pray until you have prayed. Allow Him to grow you, change you and make you more like Him. Be one that upon “hearing the Word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” (Luke 8:15) The fruit you bear will be a life lived for God and a light that points others to Him.

In His Love,

Susan