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.
Today, I don’t know what is coming your way, but the chances are good that you are going to have a choice to make on a number of occasions. The choice will be whether you are going to be great or whether you are going to be good. If I were you, I would be asking, “Are they mutually exclusive? Do I have to decide whether I am going to be great or good? What do those words even mean?” That is fair enough. I’ve thought a bit about it today and maybe you will do the same
Realizing that these things can be different is not new. Winston Churchill said that good and great are seldom the same. He went on to say that being great is not something one sets out to do; it is setting out to be effective that leads to greatness. So, will you be guided by questions like, “What will this get me? Will I be thought well of? Will I be more powerful or wealthy?” Or, will you make a decision based on what is noble, right, honest, or good?
In Luke 8:15 Jesus says, “But that [God’s truth] 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.” The three words which caught my attention are “good,” “honest,” and “patience.” Another way to think about this decision to be good or great is, “Do you want to be great or do you want to be fruitful?” That is the words used here.
Jesus is talking about the way people respond to the truth, specifically the truth of the Word of God. There are people who are hardened. There are people who have cares in life that choke out the truth. But here he talks about those who are good ground. It means suitable ground. Their lives are suitable for the truth and they have honest and good hearts. Honest is the same word as good, and the second use of the word “good” is actually a different word that means “to be agreeable and useful.” The bottom line is that greatness is kind of a metric that we have. It is a function of ambition and effort or effectiveness. I can be motivated by thoughts like, “I am going to be great! I’m going to get something done. I’m going to be stronger than the other guy.” Or, I can be driven by wanting to be fruitful.
I have a victory garden behind my house this summer. When I put a seed in, the seed is what it is. It can only come up as the fruit that it is in the seed. Now in Tennessee, we grow rocks about as quickly as we grow anything, so this requires that on a regular basis I cultivate the good seed. I may water and weed it, but I can’t make one plant grow. God is the One Who makes the corn, beans, and lettuce grow.
The interesting thing here is that God only allows such things to grow as we cultivate. Now, weeds are different. They grow unbidden without any help. When it comes to things you want to have in your garden, those things have to be cultivated. When it comes to fruit in your life, the fruit that God would wish to grow by the truth, you can’t fabricate or duplicate that, but you can cultivate that. God’s working in your heart can to bring to fruit that which you want.
An example between being great and being good or fruitful is the Apostle Peter. A young rich ruler had gone away from Jesus disappointed because Jesus had told him to go out and to sell all that he had, and follow Jesus. Peter essentially said, “Lord, we have given up everything. What are we going to get? We’ve done what you told this young man to do. What will we receive?” At that moment it seems that Peter was motivated by what he could get or how he could be great.
Later, Peter was martyred for Jesus. So, when we think about St. Peter’s Basilica, that is greatness. That magnificent edifice is what we have made of Peter. Fruitful is what God made of Peter. Every day in your life you have a choice. Am I going to be great, accomplished, and effective? I’m not against being effective, accomplishing many things, or doing well, but that is a secondary decision. The main decision is, “Am I going to be fruitful? Am I going to cultivate the truth in my life that God has given me?”
Great is what people wish to make of themselves. Fruitful is what the Lord wants to make of you today.