Beyond These Walls: Here We Go! Week 1 Devotional Day 7

DAY 7 – Sunday

Daily devotional

Read

Mark 4:8, 20; Psalm 1:1-6; James 1:22-27

Ask

What characterizes a person who is the “good” type of soil? What does this look like in everyday life?

Would you describe your life right now as “fruitful”? Why or why not?

Reflect – The Soils (Part 4): Good Soil

Finally! We’ve arrived at the “good soil.” This kind of soil stands in stark contrast to the previous three:

Unlike the path, the seed actually sinks in
Unlike the rocks, the seed is rooted
Unlike the thorns, there’s a fruitful harvest

We want to be the good soil, don’t we? We want to accept Jesus’ message and live it out. The challenge is, this has to be an ongoing activity in our lives. We listen to Jesus, we give up our wrong ways of living, we receive forgiveness, we commit to obedience— over and over and over again. As we’ve learned, we have to consistently resist the devil, reckon against the flesh, and renew our minds against the world.

What is the ultimate aim of this consistent repentance? Well, we want to be fruitful! The harvest that Jesus describes (“produced grain… yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold,” v. 8) would have been astronomical. A 10 to 1 ratio would have been within reason, but still astonishing.[1] What is Jesus saying here? This image of an immense harvest describes our lives when they become all that they were meant to be. You are meant to live a fruitful life: a life of joy and purpose that puts God’s incredible nature on display for all to see.

Now, who doesn’t want a life like that? So, stay the course! Rededicate yourself to a life of repentance, a life of obedience, a life of faithfulness. Hear the word, accept the word, live the word. And do it all while being dependent upon the Holy Spirit. God wants to make you fruitful!

[1] John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, NASB, p. 1433.