THE HEART IS THE THING – The Good (Fertile) Hearted Person

              “And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold.” 

                                                                   Luke 8:8

To begin with this narrative let us look at how the key scripture passage describes the Good (fertile) hearted person,  according to Luke 8:15 “ 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.” And Luke 8:8 “And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold.” From the two passages a good hearted person is honest, good, patient and someone who knows and practices the scriptures. 

You will notice from the account of the parable of the sower in Luke Chapter 8, that the differential between a Good (fertile) hearted person and the rest of the three category of people is the fruitfulness in his life as a result of his heart condition. A good (fertile) hearted person is born again just like the Rocky hearted person and Thorny hearted person, but he has the qualities of Daniel in the bible. 

He may occupy a very high and demanding secular position and yet he is able to withstand the tidal wave of demands and stress that comes with the position. This person will never sacrifice his devotion and commitment to God on the altar of being politically correct and climbing the career ladder. He is honest in all his dealings and does not seek to impress human beings and his heart is void of any trace of hypocrisy; his yes is his yes and his no is his no. They will never say one thing with their mouth and mean a different thing in their heart. 

This category of believers understand that impactful and lasting promotion does not come horizontally (their connection with men and society), but vertically (Their relationship with God who is in heaven) as in the case of the three Hebrew boys in Daniel 3:8- 18 (KJV) “Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews. They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever. Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image: 

And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? 

Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.  If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." 

A good (Fertile) hearted person understands that it is in the furnaces of his affliction that God will express Himself; he understands that he must be a vivid expression of the power of the Almighty God in this Babylonian world he finds himself in, even if he perishes. He allows God to show forth his power and dominion to the world through his decisions as in the case of these Hebrew Boys in Daniel 3:23-30.A good (fertile) hearted believer seeks to do good to all men, even his enemies; he does not have a vindictive and bitter spirit because he understands that holding unto offences and evil in his inner man will not aid his progression in his walk with God. 

He reckons that  the purpose of the anointing is for doing good as it was in the case of Jesus Christ and he as a follower must follow suit “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good………………….” Act 10:38A (KJV) and it is in doing this that people can give Glory to God  “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Mathew 5:16 (KJV). He knows that doing good to all manner of people is part of his godly duties and does not go around wishing his perceived enemies evil or scheme to destroy them. 

He comprehends and practices the scriptures that says “But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you” Luke 6:27 (KJV), he recognizes that a single act of love is more potent than all the hate of this world put together. This group of believers do not go praying for the death and destruction of their enemies and those who persecute them, but bless them “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” Mathew 5:44 (KJV). And one amazing thing that I discovered about this group of believers is that, they consider all forms of persecution and oppression as an opportunity to grow and become more Christ like: what an amazing inner strength. 

I once heard someone say that “people normally throw stone at trees with fruit on it” so they understand that persecution for the sake of their faith and godly values is a sign of bearing godly character hence, they are not moved by those actions. They do not hold grudge against those who hate and persecute them, but see them as a necessary step to their next level in their Christian maturity. Their understanding and worldview about the challenges of life is so amazing. 

A typical example of this character is Joseph in Genesis 50:20 (KJV)  “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”

                                  “It is in the furnaces of your affliction that God will express Himself”

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK WITH THE SUB TOPIC -“ A GOOD (FERTILED) HEARTED PERSON PART 2 ”