What Kind of Soil are You?

The parable of the Seed and the Sower – one of my very favorite parables and a much loved one about which many messages have been preached.  If you haven’t read it yet, take a moment to familiarize yourself with the passage in Matthew 13:1-23.

In verse 3 we hear that, “𝑨 𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒅.” Jesus is that good farmer and, in this instance, you are that field, the one our Savior sews all that seed into.  Some of that seed fell on the path, some in rocky places, some among thorns, and some on good soil.  In each circumstance, but the last one, the seed was lost, either eaten, scorched, or choked.  Only that which fell on the good soil produced an abundant crop, way more than was sown!  My first thought when reading this was, ‘𝗢 𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗗, 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗶𝗹, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗯𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝗜 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗶𝗹?’

Of course, we need to know what good seed is, vs 19 tells us; “𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕.”  That seed is the message of The Kingdom, and the knowledge of The Kingdom is in the Word of God.  In many ways we can be like each of the four places where the seed is sown, David Guzik puts it like this.

• Like the wayside, sometimes we allow the Word no room at all in our lives. 
• Like the stony places, we sometimes have flashes of enthusiasm in receiving the Word that quickly burns out.
• Like the soil among thorns, the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches are constantly threatening to choke out God’s Word and our faithfulness.
• Like the good ground, the Word bears fruit in our lives.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐝, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐢𝐥.  𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐢𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 

I absolutely love to garden, every year I get the soil ready, I use my garden fork to soften the ground, breaking up the clods, I add fertilizer, I pull out every weed no matter how small!  It’s a lot of work.  Then I put in my flowers, my seeds, and wait expectantly. Before long, tiny plants will poke their sweet heads above the soil and before long I have a glorious array of blossoms that feed many butterflies and bees!  But when the winter comes, I pull up the flowers and don’t touch the soil.  In no time at all, all kinds of weeds are growing, the soil becomes hard as a rock.  Why?  Because that soil is getting no attention at all.  𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱.

Will you take the time to consider the condition of your soil?  Will you attend to your soil regularly, reading the Word of God, allowing it to take root in your life?  Will you constantly turn your cares over to Jesus, thus ensuring that God’s Word is not choked out?  Will you do the work?  𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗯𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝗽 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝘄𝗻.