Imagine you planted apple seeds in your garden. What would grow? Apple trees, right? You’d never plant apple seeds and get orange trees! Whatever you plant is what you’ll get!

The Bible uses this idea of planting and harvesting to teach us an important lesson. Jesus told a story about a farmer who planted seeds. Some seeds fell on hard ground and didn’t grow. Some fell on rocky ground and started growing but died quickly. Some fell among weeds that choked them out. But some seeds fell on good, rich soil and grew into big, healthy plants that produced lots of fruit!

The “seed” in Jesus’ story is God’s Word—the Bible! The “soil” is your heart! If your heart is hard (you don’t want to listen to God), the seeds won’t grow. If your heart is rocky (you get excited about God but then give up when things get hard), the seeds won’t last. If your heart is full of weeds (you’re too busy with other stuff to think about God), the seeds get choked.

But if your heart is like good soil (you really want to learn about God and follow Him), the seeds will grow into something beautiful! You’ll become more loving, more patient, more kind—more like Jesus!

Think About It: What kind of soil is your heart right now? Are you reading your Bible regularly, or is it collecting dust on your shelf? Are you excited about God, or do you only think about Him during church? Ask God to help your heart be like good soil, ready to receive His Word and grow! Try reading a little bit of the Bible every day this week and really think about what it means. Watch how you start to grow!