In Mark 4:13 Jesus said to His disciples that if they do not understand the parable of the sower, how can they understand the other parables? The parable of the sower sounds simple and easy to understand. Why then the disciples could not understand it? Because the parable of the sower speaks of genuine conversion. This is a serious parable. It talks about the word of God as the seed and the different grounds which represents the heart. Our Lord stated the four kinds of hearts in which only one is genuine. The first kind is hard ground. This kind of ground is not suitable for farming. The seeds landed here only gets eaten up by the bird. Seeds here is the word of God and the bird is Satan. The word of God means nothing to a hardened person. The second kind of ground is stony. And because there is no depth, the seed seemingly sprouts but cannot continue to grow. A little heat will cause it to wither away. This is the kind of heart that gets excited for the things of God but cannot withstand the hardship of continuing the faith hence fall away when trouble comes. The third kind of ground is mixed ground. There are thorns and the seed that fell on this kind grow but bears no fruit. These are worldly Christian who spend all their time in the worldly affair. They give in to deceitfulness of riches and lusts. They are unfruitful phonies who are not genuine followers of Christ. Finally the Lord spake of the true followers. They are the ones who care for the things of God. They bear the name of Christ where ever they are and live according to the standards of the kingdom of God. They bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit in character and conduct. What kind of ground does your heart belong to? If it is not of good ground, take time to pray that the Lord will give you a new heart. Ask Him to take away any lusts in your heart for anything else other than our Lord Jesus. This is how you start your spiritual journey with our Lord Jesus Christ. Read the Bible daily. Take time to ponder what you have read and be intentional to obey what you have read when an opportunity arises. Make this a daily affair so that the seed will take root and bear fruit in time to come.

May we be watchful of our hearts. The heart is deceitful so it needs to be guarded. Jeremiah 17:9. Proverbs 4:23 says Above all else guard your heart, everything issues of life come from it.