What kind of heart-field do you have?
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February 03, 2013 |
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Jesus spoke in the parable of the field to explain about man's heart-field.
Jesus spoke of four kinds of soils: roadside, rocky place, thorny place, and good soil. According to what kinds of life-force they receive from their parents, their heart-fields are formed differently. According to the kind of environment in which they are raised and the teachings they receive, their heart-field can be changed.
The difference in the hearts will bring about differences in each one's life. In particular, the speed of going into spirit can be very different according to the kind of heart-field. But the important thing is that God's power can change any kind of field into good soil. Also, the toil in cultivating is nothing compared with the joy of abundant harvest. We hope by checking your heart-field and cultivating it you will bear abundant fruit of the Light.
Roadside
"And as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up"
(Matthew 13:4).
When the farmers sow the seeds, some seeds fall on the roadways that are adjacent to the fields. If the seeds fall on the roadside, they cannot take root. Since they don't get buried in the soil, they cannot sprout. Sometimes, birds come and eat up those seeds.
The roadside symbolizes hardened hearts. It is the heart with which they cannot understand the Word of God or believe it when they hear it. The roadside-like people just come to church and leave without experiencing the Holy Spirit. Those who have the heart-fields that are like roadside have to try harder than others, but in most cases, they don't.
To cultivate the roadside-like field, we have to get rid of arrogance, pride, stubbornness, and falsehood and break self-righteousness and personally-formed-mental frameworks. They harden their heart over a period of time with untruth and evil, so they have to keep on breaking it continuously to cultivate the field.
For example, if the message preached does not agree with your own thoughts, you have to deeply think whether your ideas are really right. Also, you have to store up some good deeds so God can give you His grace. In the case of the roadside-like heart, it is important for their family members and the leaders in the church to pray for them and
lead them.
Rocky place
"Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away" (Matthew 13:5-6).
Rocky places have little soil on the rocks. In such fields the soil is not deep. When seeds have fallen in this kind of a place, they spring up, but they will soon be scorched by the sunshine because the soil is shallow.
The seed of the Word does not take root because of the 'rocks' that are placed in the heart. So, when tests, persecutions, or temptations come, those who have the heart of the rocky field soon fall. More specifically, the 'rock' is the flesh of the heart that loves this world. In a broader sense, it is the untruth that keeps people from believing in God and loving Him. But not all rocky places are the same. The amount of untruth placed in each heart-field is different from person to person. Here, 'Not taking root' means they didn't have true spiritual faith. Though they listened to the Word and understood it, it doesn't mean they realized it in their hearts or believed it from the heart. Such faith is called 'fleshly faith', or 'faith merely as knowledge'.
In order to cultivate the rocky field, we have to diligently practice the Word and pray earnestly. We have to keep the fullness of the Holy Spirit. We must never stop cultivating somewhere in the middle. We have to diligently obey the messages we hear and the voices that the Holy Spirit gives to us. When we believe that we can certainly cultivate our heart by God's power and do not give up, it will be done as we believe.
Thorny field
"Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out" (Matthew 13:7).
Here, the 'thorns' are the multiple branches of thorny plants that look like a bush. The seeds that fall on the thorns cannot bear fruit because they do sprout and grow up to some extent, but then, they cannot grow any more because they are choked out by the thorns.
The 'thorns' in their heart spiritually refer to the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth. That is, they are greed for wealth, fame, and authority. Those with this heart-field say they live by the Word, but they still live in tests and trials.
We have to pull out evil of the heart from the root. Such 'thorns' come from fleshly thoughts, and their roots symbolize evil in the heart. Even though we make up our mind not to have fleshly thoughts, we cannot stop them as long as we have evil in our hearts. Among the many roots, if we pull out the roots called greed and arrogance, we can cast away flesh from our heart to a significant extent. If you always meditate on the Word of God, pray always, and receive the help of the Spirit, you can easily pull them out. To do so, above all, you have to realize how much the thorns cause you pain.
Good soil
"And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty" (Matthew 13:8).
Good soil is not hard like the roadside. It is soft. When seeds are sown in the good soil, the soft soil will embrace the seeds to be properly planted. Also, the soil contains air and water, so the seeds can sprout and grow up very well. Likewise, the heart of good soil accepts all the Words of God very well.
Good soil does not have rocks, so the Word will take root very quickly. Those with the heart of good soil will obey the Word of God in any test, trial, or persecution. They feel the heart of God who wants to let them live in New Jerusalem, the best dwelling place in Heaven, so they hold fast and practice His Word with joy and bear abundant fruits of blessings in their lives as written in Luke 8:15.
In order for you to cultivate such a good heart, you need endurance. To the extent that you worship in spirit and truth, pray fervently, and diligently keep the Word, you can quickly cultivate the good heart and glorify God with abundant fruit both in spirit and body.
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