The Open Heart
Matthew 13:1–23
As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. Matthew 13:23
The open heart receives the gospel like good soil receives seed. This soil produces a good crop. Three minor points might be made.
1. Only a portion (in the parable, one-fourth) of the preaching of the gospel bears fruit—in Christ’s or any other age. We should remember that even Jesus did not get all people to believe on him, though many did, and if this is so, we must not think we have failed when people reject our message. On the other hand, we should be encouraged in our witnessing by knowing that some will believe.
2. The only sure evidence of a genuine reception of the Word of God in a person’s life is spiritual fruit. Although we are not saved by our good works, the total absence of them indicates that we have never been truly saved.
3. The presence of fruit is the important thing, not the amount of it, at least in most cases.
But these points are all less important than the main one, namely, that it is only the open heart that receives the preaching of the gospel and is saved. Not the hard heart. Not the shallow heart. Not the strangled heart. The only heart that ever receives the truth of the gospel and is saved is the heart that opens itself to Jesus and his teaching.
Which leads to these most important questions: Do you have an open heart? Are you receptive to God’s truth? Have you allowed the teaching of the Bible to settle down into your life so that you have turned from sin, placed your whole faith in Jesus, and begun to produce the Holy Spirit’s fruit? You may say, “I’m afraid not. I wish my heart were like that, but I’m afraid it is hard or shallow or strangled by this world’s goods. What can I do? Is my case hopeless?”
No, it is not. It is true that you can do nothing, any more than soil can change its nature. But although you can do nothing, there is one who can: the divine Gardener. He can break up the hard ground, uproot the rocks, and remove the thorns. That is your hope—not you, but the Gardener. In other words, said Jesus, “With God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26). And so they are! Not just for someone else either. They are possible for you, if God does the work. What you need to do is turn to Christ and allow him to give you an open heart that will receive the gospel. Admit that you have a hard, calloused, grasping, covetous, or even frivolous heart, and ask him to save you anyway.
Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865
Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.