Luke 8:11-15
Nurture Your Faith: The Good Soil That Bears Fruit - Luke 8:11-15
Luke 8:11-15 (NIVUK)
11 'This is the meaning of the parable: the seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
Commentary
Revd. Mark Fletcher: Consciously and deliberately nurture your faith. Practise endurance and patience, so that you might bear fruit. Because the way of faith has never been easy. It requires dedication, and perseverance, and attention. We need to be like a good gardener of our souls. We need to do that for one another. Pay attention day by day, that faith might flourish, and that we might bear the good fruit of love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and gentleness and self-control. That’s what life is meant to look like. That is the fruit of good roots that grow strong. The word of God has been planted in you and in your life, but it needs to be putting down deeper roots. It needs to be nourished. Otherwise it will wither. We need to cut back the weeds and the thorns which are in danger of choking it back. We need to work hard to prepare the ground and create the right environment for the things that matter most to flourish in our lives — those good spiritual disciplines which allow us to be that which we are created to be. To cut back the weeds and the thorns which entangle us, and to commit ourselves to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, that our lives might bear the fruit which are the real riches in this world and the next. Amen.