Fertile or hardened soil?

And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that “ ‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’ ” 13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
Mark 4:10–20

What kind of soil characterizes your heart? Jesus lists four types of soils: hardened, rocky, weed-choked, and productive. Each soil type represents four ways people respond to Jesus' message of hope. 

Which soil best represents your heart? Is the word of God bearing fruit in your life? The first and the last soils are easiest to spot. One rejects Jesus' message outright, declares it to be nonsense, and walks away. The other hears and believes Jesus' message, obeys and their life changes, becoming an act of worship to their new king.

Then there are the two middle soils. These types of people are harder to read. Unlike the hardened soil they do not reject Jesus' message outright. They may even feel a certain fondness toward Jesus and his message. They likely attend church sometimes. They might even talk about Jesus. But when push comes to shove they never produce fruit. The rocky soil loves Jesus until it gets hard, then they abandon him. The weed-choked soil isn't against Jesus, they are just too busy to follow Jesus–other things are more important, more urgent. The rocky and weed-choked soils are fans, but not followers. 

Take a moment, right now, and ask God to show you where your heart is today. And, remember, God can change the condition of any type of heart.