Good soil
Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell … on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (see Matthew 13:3-9).
For the past nine years I have worked in conservation. I have attended many events in my work, and at one annual conference the subject was soil. I am a positive person, but I felt a whole day on soil would be testing. In the event, it was the most impressive secular conference I have ever attended. It made me understand why the Lord would base one of His most important parables on this vital subject.
The parable speaks about three problems which still occupy the finest minds in agriculture: hardness, erosion and weeds. The Lord tells the parable to outline how the word of God is received and understood. It has been used over and over again to preach the Gospel. But the conditions the Lord speaks about are also conditions which can affect the spiritual welfare of the people of God. Good soil can become hard, can erode and can be infertile.
The hardness of land prevents water from freely travelling into the soil to provide adequate irrigation. The word of God cannot fall to bear much fruit, like the grain in John 12:24, because the earth is not prepared to receive it. Our hearts can harden and become unreceptive to the word of God. We can become overfamiliar with ministry and cease to allow the word of God to flow daily, with refreshing, cleansing and sanctifying power, into our hearts. Erosion is a different problem. Heat and wind scorch the earth and drive away the topsoil, exposing lifeless rocks. Circumstances and forces which confront us in our lives either draw us into God’s presence, or drive us away, embittering and robbing our hearts and spirits. Weeds choke the earth, wasting its resources and not allowing good things to grow. The Lord explains that the cares of the world deprive us of contentment, and the deceitfulness of riches absorbs our energies, leaving no room for spiritual growth.
I used to tell the story at a children’s meeting about Mr Pipe and Mr Pot. I had two models to represent each character. I also had small cards with Bible verses written on them which I read and dropped behind the models. The verses fell into a pot which received the word of God and a pipe that did not. I explained to the children the importance of having a heart ready to receive Christ. But what the children did not know was that Mr Pipe was based on a real person. A baptised brother, breaking bread in a Christian fellowship, was charged with embezzlement and ended up in prison. A friend visited him and asked him what had gone wrong. He replied, “I was like a pipe: the word of God went straight through me, and I didn’t allow it to touch my heart.”
The Lord Jesus became like a grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying alone (John 12:24). In doing so He eternally secured His people. Through grace we have received Him into our hearts. His love for us never grows cold. May our hearts never be hardened, never be driven away and never allow the world, that hated Christ, to displace the Lord Jesus in our hearts. Let us allow “the word of Christ” to dwell in us richly (Colossians 3:16), abundantly yielding holy worship, joyous service and thankful witness.
