In The Parable of the Soils, Jesus describes four heart conditions using soil as a metaphor. Three of the soil conditions lead to the death of the plant and only one of them lead to a healthy harvest. Today we are going to just look at the first soil condition, the hard packed soil.
If your heart is not soft to God’s Word, you have a spiritual problem. The Gospel of Jesus cannot penetrate. If you are filled with anger, or jealously, or bitterness or resentment, you have a spiritual problem. This is not something to take lightly. If you use your tongue to slander or gossip about other people, you have a spiritual problem. If you go around spreading disunity and whining and complaining and being generally negative, you have a spiritual problem. You have a hard heart.
This is very serious stuff. If you continue to close your ears to what Jesus is saying, your heart will get harder and harder the longer you refuse to listen.
The good news is, if you belong to Jesus, you have his Spirit living in you. He will speak to you and let you know when your heart is misaligned with his. There is hope for the hard of heart, but it's not going to be easy.