“But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Matthew 13:16-23
The above is an excerpt from today’s Gospel: Matthew 13:1-23. In this Gospel we learn of the many reasons God’s Word does not take in us, does not live in us.
When we do not seek to understand God’s Word, the Devil robs us of our opportunity! It is like seed thrown along side the path. It lands, and then it remains dormant.
When we hear God’s Word with joy in our heart, but then fail to nurture it by studying it to understand it further, it does not take root in the soil of our heart and it soon withers away. It is like seed thrown on rocky ground where roots cannot take hold. Without deep roots we have no stamina against the siege of the world.
And then there is what I feel is the saddest reason God’s Word does not take root in our heart: guilt. When we hear God’s Word, but worry about our sinfulness, our deceitfulness, our worthiness blocks out the joy. Our worries and our guilt choke out our attempts to be fruitful. Lke seed cast among thorns, we are too weak to fight our way through.
To be fruitful, we must hear God’s Word in our heart, strive to understand it, nurture it, and then share it with others. No small task! To prepare the soil of heart we must be vigilant, be open, ready to understand. We must be ready to bear fruit. Then, like the seed cast onto good soil, we will thrive in God’s Word and bear much fruit for Him.
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