What is your response to the Word of God?  A person’s response to the Word of God is dependent on the condition of that person’s heart.  Furthermore, fruit is the only evidence that one has heard and properly accepted the Word.  Chris Brannon starts off our new sermon series on parables with the the seed and the soil parable.  This parable is not about the quality of the seed, the use for the farm or the sower.  It is about the condition of the soil!  There are four different soils addresses:  roadside soil, rock, weed-infested soil and fertile soil.  The focus is on the soil and the abundance of the harvest.

To go along with the four different soils, there are four different heart conditions.  The first one is the hardened heart.  Sin hardens the heart, and the heart that is hardened sins even more.  The next one is the shallow heart.  These are people who are attracted to the joy and excitement of church where much is happening.  They hear the gospel and seem to fit in.  They make a profession of faith, but then a difficulty comes along.  The third heart is a strangled heart.  This heart is choked by riches and the cares of this life.  Our riches choke out our hearts for following after Jesus.  The last one is the open heart.  It is only the open heart that receives the benefit of the preaching of the gospel and is saved.

Which heart do you have?  Chris talks about preparing the soil of our hearts to receive the Word.  We must do our part and then rely upon the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives to convict and change us at the heart level.