Mark 4:20

20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.” -Mark 4:20

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What does good spiritual soil look like? For the past few days we’ve been talking about bad soil—distractions in our lives that keep us from God’s Word or the lies we believe in our lives that keep out God’s Word. Remember, the soil represents our lives and that the seed represents God’s Word.

Today, we’re going to talk about what good soil looks like. When we take time to read God’s Word regularly and to really digest the truths of the Bible, what begins to happen is that God uses the Bible to change our hearts. You may not realize it at first, but as you’re spending time with God and His Word, you begin to be transformed from the inside. Sometimes the change may be imperceptibly slow, but it’s happening!

As the Bible changes you, it begins to produce a spiritual crop. What’s the crop you ask? In another part of the Bible called the Book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul writes this:

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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." -Galatians 5:22-23

When we soak in God’s Word, our hearts begin to change in all of these ways. We find ourselves more loving toward others. We begin to exhibit joy even in the midst of difficult circumstances. We are able to forgive those and love those who may have wronged us. We begin to show kindness to all those around us. We have a desire to do good to help benefit the community. We stick with our friends and family through difficult times. We begin to respond gently to those who disagree with us or may have wronged us. We begin to have a greater ability to resist temptation and sin.

Good spiritual soil that allows God’s Word to grow produces a changed heart that loves God and loves people. That’s spiritual crop.

So continue to be faithful in reading God’s Word! In time, you’ll begin to see the fruit of the Spirit in your life.