How is your holy cardio-condition?

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“What do you make of this?” Jesus asked. “A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.” The Parable of the Sower From Matthew 13:1-8, The Message Edition

Imagine! Jesus speaks these words, looks you in the eye and asks: “Are you listening to this? Really listening?” Imagine that! Jesus, the Living Word of God, speaking God’s word to you.

While told in farming terms, The Parable of the Sower is all about Jesus’s hearers, the state of their hearts, and their readiness to receive Him in faith. The parable is as true for us as it was for those who first heard Jesus tell it.

So, in terms of the Parable of the Sower, how is your heart – your holy cardio-condition?

• Is it paved over hard and smooth, without even a crack where a bit of God’s word can settle and make a lasting difference?

• Is it gravelly, ready to wash out when tough times test your faith?

• Is it choked with so many other things that God’s word can’t flourish?

Or, do the lyrics of this hymn describe your heart:

Lord, let my heart be good soil

Open to the seed of Your word.

Lord let my heart be good soil

Where love can grow

And peace is understood.

When my heart is hard,

Break the stone away.

When my heart is cold,

Warm it with the day.

When my heart is lost,

Lead me on Your way.

Lord let my heart,

Lord let my heart,

Lord let my heart be good soil*

How’s your holy cardio-condition? How might God’s word take root in your heart this day, this week, and into the future?

Come Holy Spirit, this hour, this day, this week, to loosen the hard crust of our hearts, enrich the seedbed, and clear out the weeds and thorns of our lives, that our hearts would indeed be good soil, open to the seed of Your word. In Jesus’ precious name. Amen.

* “Good Soil” – Text and tune by Handt Hanson (1985). © 1985 Prince of Peace Publishing, Changing Church, Inc.

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By the Rev. Cathi Braasch

Your pastor speaks

The writer is the pastor for Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Jackson Center.

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