In late spring each year, I plant cucumber seeds in our garden. The seeds produce leaves quickly, but it takes time to see the fruit. In fact, one summer after I watered the seeds and waited, I questioned whether I’d get any cucumbers at all. I thought, Did I put too many seeds too close together, or was the ground not warm enough when I’d planted them? But one day, I spotted a green bulb. The next week, I spotted another. Then another. Within a few weeks, we moved from only vines to almost enough fruit to make salad for a week.
Spiritual growth looks like that sometimes. We don’t always see the things we’ve been praying for: patience, self-control, being gentle and loving (see Galatians 5:22-23). But if we ask God to help us create the conditions needed for growth—prayer, studying the Scriptures, worship, serving others—the Holy Spirit will produce the growth.
This is the crux of the parable Jesus shares in Luke 8: “A farmer went out to sow his seed” (v. 5). “The birds ate” some of the seeds that fell on the path (v. 5). Others landed on rocky ground, where they received no moisture and withered (v. 6). Some more fell among thorns and were choked before they could grow (v. 7). But the seed that was planted on good soil yielded a crop that was “a hundred times more than was sown” (v. 8).
As God helps us, let’s cultivate “good soil” and grow in Him.
How is God helping you cultivate “good soil”? Where have you observed growth in your life?
Master Gardener, please help me produce good fruit from good soil.
For further study, read The Forever Race: A Model of Spiritual Growth.
In the parable of the sower in Luke 8:1-15, the focus isn’t on the sower who scatters the seed but on the soil where the seed is sown. The life-bearing seed is “the word of God” (v. 11), and the soil represents the heart condition of the one who receives it. Jesus highlights different outcomes depending on where the seed falls. The seed that falls on “good soil” (v. 8) represents receptive hearts “who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest” (v. 15 nlt). We are “God’s field” (1 Corinthians 3:9) where “the word of God” is planted. Even as we cultivate good soil, it’s God who makes “things grow” (v. 7) and makes us fruitful (vv. 6-9).
