The Quality of Our Soil

Jesus is a storyteller, and His early audiences consisted mainly of farmers and fishermen. No surprise then, when He chose to share a parable describing four types of soil.

First, soil along the road.

Packed hard under all the feet and hooves and wheels straying onto it. Farmers knew seeds would just lie there, never sprouting. Other animals would eat those.

Second, rocky soil.

Plenty of dirt. But fragile little rootlets wouldn’t be able to get past the stones under the surface. They’d remain fragile, easily killed off by heavy rains or scorching sun.

Third, thorny soil.

Lots of good dirt. But the sprouts and roots would share space with thorns and weeds, and we all know who usually wins that war unless the farmer helps out.

Last, good soil.

Well-plowed, well-watered, weeded, rocks removed. Seeds grow roots and sprout and flourish to maturity, ready for a bountiful harvest.

If we had any church upbringing at all, we learned what those soils symbolized. Back when Jesus was teaching along the Sea of Galilee, His disciples needed the explanation as well.

God is the farmer, the seeds are His Word, and we are the soil. And more often than not, we contain obstacles that prevent growth. Okay. I got it. We all hear what Jesus had to say, but not all of us respond to His Good News the same way.

Some of us pay no attention. Not interested.

Some of us get SOOOOO excited.

Jesus will solve all of our problems!

Until. He doesn’t.

Forget it, then. One more great-looking opportunity that didn’t turn out to be so hot.

Some of us take in the message and go to town on it.

We have our list of things we would love to do for Jesus. But life keeps getting in the way. Pretty soon, the joyful to-do list turns into a ball and chain, link upon link of “Christian” obligations, not to mention the kids’ sports schedules, more tasks piled on at work, and we really should network within our communities if we hope to grow our retirement nest egg.

Only a few of us take in God’s message and dodge all of the world’s obstacles successfully.

 

Is this fair?

I didn’t ask to be thorny soil. Or rocky soil. Or so hard that His Word just bounced off of me. But maybe I’ve been looking at this from the wrong angle all these years.

 

What if…it’s possible for all of us to be(come) good, fertile soil?

God says He wants all of us to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). So, excellent farmer that He is, God can improve the soil of our lives.

Back in America’s pioneer days, families created a new farm field by chopping down trees to form a clearing. They dug out rocks from the earth and piled them as boundaries for the field.

They plowed hard, dry soil, either behind a horse or pulling a plow blade themselves.

Once seed was sown, they inspected the field frequently and pulled out weeds and volunteer vines from the woodlands that had once stood there.   Backbreaking, seemingly endless work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 If men and women and children could do that, of course, God can do it!

One difference though.

God doesn’t force us to give up what we started with. We choose to surrender ourselves to Him, which means we can pretty much count on pain as He clears out the forest of sin in our lives. When He digs deep to remove hidden rocks, it feels like surgery without anesthesia. When He pulls out the thorns that have become our comfortably-rooted companions, He leaves us bleeding and sore.

Are we willing?

Do we want Jesus to harvest a crop from us that is thirty times the amount of seed He planted in us? Sixty times as much? A hundred times?

Then every single one of us is going to have to let the Lord work on our imperfections. Moments of pain interrupted by moments of blessed showers and new growth. It will be a daily challenge. And the harvest will be worth it.

 

 

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