Our little house in the middle of nowhere has a mega-gigantic garden!
A huge blessing, were it not that it is currently one big wasteland, LOL.
Big sand dunes, towering weeds, and muddy clay soil are pretty much all we are looking at right now. Time for action, my husband and I thought at the beginning of this spring.
We made a blueprint of our dream layout, rolled up our sleeves, and started on the first section. While tilling, digging, clearing, and building up this part of the garden, I suddenly realized how our heart works the same way as this garden. Our heart also needs maintenance, maintenance of the Word of God, that is, mainly.
“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God” – Luke 8:11
This parable from Luke shows how important the Word is. The Word possesses absolute truth and power, but it must be planted in our hearts and given the chance to germinate before that power becomes visible.
The seed is God’s Word, and the types of soil described in Luke 8 are the four main categories of human hearts. In principle, the Word works the same way in every situation, but the results differed primarily because of the condition of the hearts of all those different people and not because of the Word itself.
Not all people will receive the same kind of fruit, or perhaps even receive no fruit at all, because not everyone allows the Word to work in his or her life. Every heart has the same potential in principle, and God’s Word is also always the same; only the condition of the hearts is what is variable.
Weeding
While I am plucking myself silly at the seemingly endless amount of weeds in our garden, 
I realize that, just like the creation of a beautifully landscaped garden, good soil in our hearts does not just appear out of nowhere; it must be cultivated.
Just like cultivating and creating our dream garden, this also requires a great deal of time, effort, and dedication if we want to be fruitful Christians.
Furthermore, growing weeds comes more easily and effortlessly to us than creating and maintaining, for example, a vegetable garden or a beautiful flower garden.
In the entire parable in Luke, it was the Word that produced the fruit. The soil was merely a place to grow. If we keep God’s Word in our hearts, protect it, and give it priority in our lives, the Word will naturally bear fruit.
Satan has convinced many people that they do not have the talents or skills to be fruitful Christians, but it is not they who produce fruit; that is God’s Word. When we protect the Word sown in our hearts, it will do the rest.
“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” - Joshua 1:8
I want to encourage you to set aside time daily to take in God’s Word. You don’t have to chew through whole passages of text; sometimes you can meditate on a single Bible verse for days. The point is that we meditate on it and let it settle in our hearts, involve God in this, and meditate on the Scripture day and night (Joshua 1:8).
In this way, God’s Word will do what it must do and never return but will do what it must do (Isaiah 55:11).
“so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” - Isaiah 55:11
For the time being, we have our hands full with this enormous project—our garden—but just like working, laying out, and maintaining our garden, I also encourage myself to daily take in an even richer seed: God’s Word. 
