The seed that fell into good soil brought forth fruit.
I love the vivid imagery our Savior painted with as He used parables to teach the gospel! The parable of the Sower is one of my favorites!
As I look back in my life, I can see how my heart has taken on each of the conditions Jesus mentioned in this parable. There have been times when I was angry and bitter and even though the Spirit tried to teach me, the word was gobbled up before it had a chance to sink in.
There are times when I was too overwhelmed with the busyness of life and my pursuits of a worldly nature when the thorns crowded in and consumed my heart leaving no opportunity for spiritual thriving.
There have been those times when my heart has been more stony, when I have heard truths and felt excited about them in the meeting where they were being taught, only to go home and give no more thought to nurture them.
And then there have been times… my favorite times, even though sometimes they were my hardest times, when I have sat down regularly to spend time with the Master Gardener on a very regular basis. And as we had these cultivating sessions, He broke up the soil of my heart. He taught me about thorny weeds I needed to remove and rocks I needed to toss out. He showed me how to fertilize my soil. And in that time together I have felt the most beautiful garden spring up in my soul. I have felt peace and joy in a way that was not reasonable or explainable with the other difficulties that were happening in my life. I felt loved. I felt nurtured. I felt strengthened. But getting to that point was not easy. It required a willingness to be broken up. It required a willingness to make a painful exploration of who I was and who I wanted to be. Sometimes self-examination is not easy. Honestly, most of the time if we are doing it correctly it is not. But it is ALWAYS worth it because our Lord can show us the areas in our lives where we are hurting the most and why. And most importantly He can help us to change it so that it can become pleasing rather than painful!
Soul Searching Question: What condition is the soil of your heart? What are you doing to break it up and nurture it to improve it? What specific things are you doing to keep your heart soft and receptive?
The Primary Manual for Come Follow Me is perfect for families with young children!
March week 3: March 20–26. Matthew 13; Luke 8; 13: “Who Hath Ears to Hear, Let Him Hear” (churchofjesuschrist.org)
Click on the images below to print out these FREE coloring pages from Rising Moon Adventures that I created to go with this lesson:
Primary Insights for Come Follow Me videos –
(46) Rising Moon Adventures Scripture Story Time – YouTube
Song 1: The Sower’s Song by Andrew Peterson
Song 2: My Heart is Filled with Thankfulness by Keith and Kristyn Getty
