The old
parable that calls back to me on many occasions is the one about the three
different kinds of soil. You have the seeds cast in with rocky soil; thrown
among the thorns; thrown to the way side, and then finally you have the good
soil. The parable has always been taught to me to be about the condition of
someone’s heart when you or someone approaches them about the message of God.
For me I get a little bit of a different message about this passage.
Something
that always rang to me is how much tending needs to be done to make the soil
good soil. For a long time I have seen myself to be the seed that was thrown
among the thorns. It’s got good dirt, but the thorns make it difficult to grow.
Looking through life that is how much of my life has been. I get a good spell
right after the garden’s been weeded. Go for a while then the thorns grow right
back up around me.
Let’s be
clear, none of us were gifted with the perfect soil. Everyone that has started
a new garden will know that no patch of ground is perfect. Things were growing
there before, there are rocks in the dirt and many times it takes many years of
tending before you have good dirt. Now that is not to say that it does not help
to have the soil prepared for you. I see this as people that were raised in
good Christian homes. That does not mean that your seed cannot fall to the
wayside, and certainly doesn’t mean that if left alone that thorns and weeds
cannot creep back into the garden.
The biggest
issue with good healthy dirt is that it is good healthy dirt. Thorns and weeds
love to grow in the same place as fruits and vegetables. You must always tend to your soil. But back to
what I’m talking about today. Each of us has inherited this plot of soil that
is who we are. This is our heart, mind, body and soul. There are many things
that factor into how hard, rocky, thorny or good our soil is. A strong seed can
grow in nearly any condition. It’s just harder.
Why is it
important to know what kind of dirt you have? Well once you know what you are
working with you will know how much work will needed to be put into it. Also
the more work you put into it the better it will grow. Any dirt can become good
dirt. It takes TLC. The worse your dirt is the more you have to do to fix it.
That is part of how we grow as Christians, and as people for that matter.
I started
out with really fertile soil, yeah there were plenty of rocks in it, but it had
been worked for me for a few years to start out life. The problem is, it was
left untended for a good number of years. By the time I first walked to Christ,
I had plenty of rocks still there and the weeds had taken over. But the dirt
was fertile.
The seed
took root and grew. The weeds had been cleared out enough for this one seed.
That wasn’t enough. The weeds liked the dirt and grew back up. Well then I
began to ignore it even more and threw more junk in the garden. Bottles, cans,
distractions, magazines, people and many other things were thrown in this
place. I then realized how much of a mess all that had become wanted to pave
over it with something else.
Shopping
around I found the thing that was as different from the garden as I could. The
salesman was good, “You want knowledge, wisdom, understanding and power… I’ve
got all that for you. All you got to do is add a little water, mix it up and
poor it over all that and you’ll never see it again. Once you’ve done that you
can do whatever you want. Risk free! Satisfaction Guaranteed! No conviction,
just pleasure and indulgence.”
“Hell yeah,
where do I sign!” was my reply.
Hell indeed.
So now this fertile ground was covered in a slab of concrete. When I fell I hit
this concrete and it did not give way. Jesus then showed up with a sledgehammer
and a shovel. You’ve got the dirt down there, all we have to do is get back to
it and get it cleaned up. Here I’ll help. Jesus then began breaking the
concrete.
If you have
read the “Grey Door” then you know this portion of the story. For 115 days
Jesus pounded away at the concrete. Somewhere in there I began to help. We got
back down to the soil and started clearing it out. Man it has been hard work.
Still 5 years later, people still see all the junk in my garden. Those that do
not know Christ says, “Man what a mess you are. I can’t help you.”
This is not
my concern though… The story that I have to hear to keep my strength is with
the ones that look at my garden and say, “Wow, you’ve come a long way. You’ve
got a ways to go, can I help. If you need another shovel just let me know.”
These people are my brothers and sisters. My garden is still a mess, but it’s a
work in progress. Luckily God loves works in progress just as much as he loves
the well-tended gardens.
Mark 4:3-9,
Ecclesiastes 4:7-12, 1 Timothy 1:12-17, 6:12-16
