[Jesus said] “The seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Matthew 13:23
God Revives Dead Dirt
Daily Devotion – July 17, 2023
Devotion based on Matthew 13:23
See series: Devotions
In the novel The Martian, an astronaut named Mark Watney is stranded on Mars all by himself. To survive until help can arrive, he has to find a way to grow food for himself. The problem is nothing can grow in the dead Martian soil. But Watney engineers a way to revive the dead Martian dirt and turn it into soil rich enough for growing potatoes. The potatoes he grows sustain him long enough for help to arrive. Remarkably, Watney was able to provide a climate in his greenhouse so that even the dead dirt of Mars could be cultivated into life-sustaining soil.
Jesus once told a story to illustrate God’s ability to do something even more remarkable. God is able to make unbelieving, sinful hearts trust in him. We are all essentially a pile of dead dirt, spiritually speaking, until God gets a hold of us. God uses his Word to make the seed of faith grow even in hearts that are dead in sin. God has the power to take the dead dirt of our hearts and revive it to life by the message of Christ. He never gives up on us, even when we look hopeless.
The faith that God causes to grow in us supports and nourishes us our whole lives. God alone gives us faith to get through the rocky and thorny times of our lives when our faith is threatened. We thank the Lord that he has allowed us to hear his word and understand it.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for reviving my heart to live by the power of your Word. Grow me daily in the greenhouse of your Word. Amen.
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
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