Have you ever prayed, “Lord, help me to impact others to build your Kingdom?” Perhaps the Lord is prompting you right now to pray that prayer. The Lord wants to stretch you and use you to grow His Kingdom. There is something happening in our faith life when we begin to see beyond ourselves to those around us. This is when our heart becomes good soil for the Lord to plant His word.
Paul writes about how our lives should change as we follow Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:15“He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. [1] Much of the world lives for itself, but the Lord has set you apart to live for Christ. When we live for Christ, we impact the world around us for Jesus.
The Heart That is Good Soil
Jesus is teaching the parable of the sower to a crowd around the sea of Galilee. God’s word in the parable is the seed that is sown by the sower. Jesus compares the hearts of those listening to four types of soil. There is hard, shallow, weedy, and good soil. When our heart is good soil, God’s word transforms us.
Jesus explains more about good soil. Mark 4:8 Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!…”20 And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” [2] When our heart is good soil, the Lord uses us to tell others about Jesus. In this way, we multiply the seed that was planted in us.
The Holy Spirit Wants to Lead Us to be Good Soil
Living for yourself is an empty life, but this is not God’s plan for your life. Jesus tells us in John 10:10, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” [3] As we come to faith and respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit the Lord over time transforms our hearts into good soil so we can fulfill God’s plan for our life. His plans are rich and helpful to others. This is rich in a spiritual sense not in a worldly way.
Remember the words in Peter 2:9, “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.” [4] Lord, help me to impact others, to hear more, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/mark-why-some-never-come-to-faith
[1-4] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation . Tyndale House Publishers.