Cultivating Good Ground

And these are they which are sown on good ground; 

such as hear the Word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, 

some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred. 

Mark 4:20

When we sow the way God instructs us, we will see the fruit of our labor. However, spiritual harvest, when not cultivated in accordance to God's word, leads to poor spiritual harvest. Sowing on anything but good ground results in a puny, weak harvest; one that is not able to withstand the cares of the world or the test of time.

If the ground is not properly prepared, the harvest will be poor. 

A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.  And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.  And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.  And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?  And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.  Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.  Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.  They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.  And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.  But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.  Luke 8:5-15

(Also read the Parable of the sower in Matthew 13:1-23 and Mark 4:12-20)
                    . 
In these parables the Word of God is compared to seed in the natural world. The Word is sown in the hearts of men and women.

The thing that varies in these accounts is not the sower, the seed, or the method. The thing that affected the harvest was the condition of the soil. Some of the ground is not cultivated but is full of spiritual stones and weeds such as the cares of the world, riches, and lusts of other worldly things. The harvest from this uncultivated spiritual ground is poor to none.

But some of the seed is sown on good ground which represents cultivated spiritual ground (hearts) that are spiritually prepared to receive it. The result is abundant harvest:

And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the Word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.  Mark 4:20

The seed of the Word sown on fertile soil brings forth the greatest harvest.

Some people are receptive to the Gospel while others are resistant. If you are not experiencing a good harvest, uncultivated soil may be the problem. It must be properly prepared. The prophet Hosea commands:

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain righteousness upon you. Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.   Hosea 10:12-13

Uncultivated ground in the spiritual world represents unrighteous ground. Hosea tells God's people they have reaped iniquity because they have plowed wickedness into the spiritual ground of their lives. The wickedness sown which results in a harvest of iniquity includes:

→ Discord:

A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.  He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.   Proverbs 6:12-14

→ Iniquity: 

He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.  Proverbs 22:8

Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.  Job 4:8

→ Strife:

A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends.  Proverbs 16:28

→ Flesh: 

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.   Galatians 6:7-8

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.   Galatians 5:19-21

To assure proper spiritual harvest, we must break up the spiritual ground of our life and remove these hindrances. As Hosea recommended, we must "seek the Lord until He comes and rain righteousness" upon us.

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. Hosea 10:12

When there was a poor harvest in the natural world, the prophet Haggai told God's people to examine their ways:

Ye have sown much, and bring in little...

Consider your ways...

Ye looked for much and lo, it came to little.   Haggai 1:6, 7, 9

God's people had sown much seed but the harvest was little. Haggai told them they must rebuild both in the natural and spiritual worlds in order to have a good harvest.

Why was rebuilding necessary?  In the natural world, Israel had delayed building God's house and emphasized building their own homes. They had put their own concerns ahead of God's command.

In the spiritual world, the foundation of their lives was wrong. They had been sowing and reaping in the spirit world with unholy hands:  

Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the Lord; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.   Haggai 2:14

A right work or sacrifice offered by unholy hands is not acceptable. The foundation was wrong. God said to Israel:  

Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed; how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto Me?   Jeremiah 2:21

Because of this improper spiritual foundation God cursed the harvest:  

I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands.  Haggai 2:17

Haggai told God's people that the foundation of the Lord's temple must be relayed. He said if they would rebuild in both the natural and spiritual worlds God would bless them:  

Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, consider it.   Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.   Haggai 2:18-19

From the day that Israel began to rebuild the temple in the natural world and the foundation of righteousness in the spirit world God started to bless them. The result was abundant harvest in both worlds.

If you will rebuild the foundations of your life on righteousness, from this day forward, God will begin to bless you. You will reap abundantly in every area of life.

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.  3 John 1:2

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