Mark 4:15
And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.

What is the status of your soil?

How do you know if the soil of your heart is prepared to receive the word? How do you know that it will take root? Have you been in a service where you really felt the presence of the Lord and the word seemed to penetrate to the very depths of your soul? Did you cry? Did you rejoice? Did you go to the altar for prayer, desiring for the word to be sealed? What happened after the service? Did you make some changes in your life to comply with the word you received? When you continually till the soil of your heart (Hosea 10:12), the Father can plant His word and it will grow. Colossians 1:10 describes the rooted believer.

Colossians 1:10 So that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord [displaying admirable character, moral courage, and personal integrity], to [fully] please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing in the knowledge of God [with deeper faith, clearer insight and fervent love for His precepts]. (Amplified Bible AMP)

When you are rooted, you hear the word, and you are changed, not just challenged.

Mark 4:20 “And those [in the last group] are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word [of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation] and accept it and bear fruit—thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much [as was sown].” (Amplified Bible AMP)

However, if you have not prepared your heart, you hear the word of Lord and one of these things may happen.

• The enemy will come, and you will not even remember what the word was.
• The word you immediately received with joy was only superficial. You were just challenged.
• You did not allow the truth of the word to sustain you because you did not fully commit yourself to it.
• Trouble or persecution came because of the word, and you were immediately offended. You did not want to be associated with Christianity any longer.
• The Lord did not do what you wanted Him to do, when you want Him to do it. You gave up on Him and became despondent, convinced that He does not care.
• The worries and cares of the world come. You focused on them and took your eyes off the Lord.
• Your desire for worldly pleasures; wealth; fame; your own sense of security, not God’s; and/or anything else that is self-fulfilling is greater than your desire for God.

When the word is not rooted in you, you are just hanging out at the church. You have to till the soil of your heart and break up the fallow ground. Prepare it to receive the word. The preparation allows you to identify what is stopping the seed of the word from taking root and growing. God is faithful to show you where the problem areas are and do what is necessary to fix them.

Colossians 2:6-7 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in [union with] Him [reflecting His character in the things you do and say—living lives that lead others away from sin], 7 having been deeply rooted [in Him] and now being continually built up in Him and [becoming increasingly more] established in your faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing in it with gratitude. (Amplified Bible AMP)

Please agree with me as I pray:

Father, I repent for living my Christian life selfishly. Because I did, there were so many pebbles, stones, and hard soil keeping Your word from taking root. Even though some of them were huge rocks, You dug them out. I am grateful You brought me from a place where I was just by the wayside. I asked You to show me what I needed to change. You showed me and changed me because I tilled the soil of my heart and broke up the fallow ground. Now You have planted the seeds of Your word deeply in good soil and I’m grateful. The seed is growing bigger and taller and stronger and deeper every day. Thank You! As Your word grows, every now and then, there’s another rock that has to be dug out. Thank You for continuing to dig them out. Thank You for using whatever means You see fit. Though sometimes it’s painful, I yield to the work that must be done and I thank You for it. You are the ultimate farmer…

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Ask the Lord what He wants to say to you about today’s devotional and journal His response as described here.