Dear Brothers and Sisters of Wollaston,
Jesus mentioned four types of spiritual hearts – pathway, rocky ground, thorny ground, and good soil – in Matthew 13. To keep up our faith life, we should take care of our spiritual heart because it keeps changing.
- Pathway Type: A person with this type of heart cannot accept God’s grace because his or her heart has no rooms for the Lord. At one time, I was trading stocks. My everyday life started and ended with stocks. My heart was completely occupied and had no room for the grace of God. Likewise, when anyone is occupied and becomes like a concrete paved pathway, there is no way to accept God’s grace. Unfortunately, they usually cannot get off that pathway unless something happens in their life.
- Rocky Ground Type: Jesus said, “When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy. However, they have no root but short-lived.” When people are desperate and hear a comforting Gospel message, they get excited and decide to follow Jesus. They usually keep up a faithful life with joy for a while. As things are going well, they quickly forget the grace of the Lord; when their situation gets worse, they simply give up their faith. This is a very unfortunate situation.
- Thorny Ground Type: Jesus said, “These are the ones who hear the word, but the worries of this age make it unfruitful.” They know trusting the Lord is very important, and the Word of God is the truth. However, they don’t exercise their faith in Christ. In other words, they have no time to come to worship and no time to read the Bible and pray. Other things occupy their time and mind.
Another group of people mixes the Gospel with false doctrines, other theories, philosophies, and various arts and science. Unfortunately, some churches entertain and mix them with the Gospel of Christ. Consequently, they proclaim the faith, however, it is diluted and/or mixed with other false doctrines – which becomes a different gospel.
- Good Soil Type: Jesus said, “those who hear the word, welcome it, and produce a crop: 30, 60, and 100 times what was sown.” I have experienced and believe that this formula applies to every part of our faith life. When I gave my time and resources to help needy people in the name of the Lord, God paid me back with more abundant blessings including children, family, business, work, health, happiness, and much more.
What is your heart type? As your pastor, I pray all who read this can keep up the Good Soil type and have the abundant blessings of 30, 60, and 100 times not only in wealth on earthly life but also in your spiritual life in the Lord.
In Christ,
-Pastor David