Do you ever evaluate your heart to determine if you are spiritually growing?  

It’s interesting that there is not a day that passes by that I don’t look at myself in the mirror. I stare at that mirror to make sure I look good, that my hair is place, that my makeup is properly applied, that I am well dressed before leaving my house, but rarely do I ever take time to evaluate my heart and ask how I am doing spiritually.

Recently, as I was randomly thinking about the state of my heart and the way Jesus spoke about the different ways people respond to the word of God in the Parable of the Sower, I took time to evaluate my heart and spiritual growth. I realized that just as I care for my physical appearance, I need to intentionally care for the state of my heart and spiritual growth. 

To help people who were following Him understand spiritual growth, Jesus used the simple analogy of the seed and the farmer. In Matthew 13:1-23, He spoke of four different types of soils where seeds fall. The farmer scatters his seed and it falls on four different types of soils. The first batch of seeds fall on the path, where there is no soil (v.4), the second batch on rocky places, where there is little soil (v.5), the third batch on some soil that contains thorns (v.7), the fourth batch falls on good ground that produces fruit—30, 60 or 100 times what was sown (v.8).  

Jesus did not share this parable to simply speak of the reality of agriculture, He shared that story in order to illustrate something much deeper—a spiritual lesson that would nudge the heart of the people who were listening. This should make us pause and ponder, as those spiritual truths still apply to us today. 

When Jesus explains the meaning of the parable and how the outcome of our growth is connected to us hearing the word of God and understanding it, everything becomes clear. The farmer represents God, the seed, the word of God and the soil, our hearts. His explanation helps us evaluate the state of our hearts, which leads us to ask ourselves 4 crucial questions: 

Am I a hard soil? I hear the word of God, but I do not understand it, and then the enemy quickly snatches away what was sown, then there is no fruit in my life at all (v.19). 

Am I a rocky soil? I hear the word of God, receive it with joy, but it falls on a hardened heart (possibly caused by pride, idolatry, unbelief, unforgiveness, bitterness, or some kind of unrepented sin …) and consequently, the word does not take deep root within me to change me, and when hardship rises, my faith crumbles and I easily fall away (v.20,21). 

Am I a thorny soil? I receive the word of God, but that word gets choked by the worries of life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the lusts of this world, which renders the very word of God that was planted in me unfruitful (v.22).

Am I a good soil? I receive the word of God and understand it. The state of my heart is one of humility, it has healed from past hurts, it is focused on things above, on heavenly things rather than on earthly things, and there is no hindrance that prevents me from growing, and thus the word of God in my life bears much fruit—30, 60 or 100 of what was originally sown (v.23). 

Beloved, take time to evaluate your heart, to determine if you are growing spiritually or not. We all want to grow and bear fruit, but we need to be diligent in weeding out what is hindering our growth, so we may become that good soil that receives the word of God, understands it, and bears much fruit.