A few weeks ago we looked at Jesus’ Parable of the Sower.

Remember the 4 soils? The 4 heart types?

Hard hearts.

Shallow hearts.

Cluttered hearts.

Fruitful hearts.

Today I found myself pondering it some more.

And two things struck me…..

One: Jesus tells this parable because he loves us. He cares deeply for us and about us. He cares what our hearts are like. He knows what is best for us…he has a desire for us…he wants our hearts to be fruitful. He wants our hearts to be receptive to His seed, to welcome it, to receive it. And for us to do all that is within our power to create the conditions for it to grow.

He cares because the gospel…his gospel…is about life.

He wants life to take root and to flourish in our hearts.

Jesus cares about our heart.

My heart. And your heart.

 

Two: The second thing that struck me relates to this month’s spiritual rhythm of solitude.

One of the benefits of solitude is that it creates the time and space and quiet for us to think and pray and hear and listen…

…to pay attention to our hearts.

Trouble is…because we don’t…because we’re not very good at this solitude thing (at least, most of us aren’t)…we don’t spend much time paying attention to our heart.

In Jesus’ parable, he describes the 3rd soil as being the distractions of this life…he gives an example of worldly wealth….but it’s certainly not limited to that. I wonder if the biggest distraction is just our sheer busyness and the noise around us.

It is, as Walter Brueggemann said, that the din undoes us.

Noise.

Literal noise.

The noise of busyness.

The noise of undealt-with emotions.

The noise of relational pain.

The noise of unfulfilled yearnings.

The noise of demands.

The noise of expectations.

The noise of lists.

The noise of buried hurts.

 

The din undoes us.

How can we pay attention to our hearts if there is always noise?

 

So because I know Jesus cares about your heart, let me encourage you to discover the rhythm of solitude. Time alone. With your Heavenly Father. Listening to Him. Paying attention to your heart.

Go on.

Enjoy some solitude.

Paying attention to your heart.