Soil - Not just Good.

   Have you noticed how easy it is to see the specks in other peoples eyes, but the log in your own is easier to ignore than to face? I know that many, like myself, deny this and wish/hope that this isn't true about themselves. Reality check - It Is.
   My church is doing a church wide study on the book "Rooted in Good Soil." It looks at the parable of the soils and challenges its readers to look at the world through the eyes of a "farmer." My group started discussing which soils we were. At first we started as the Good Soil that the seed grew up strong in. But as we dug deeper we came to find that we said that more because that is where we felt we should be, and that we want to be. There is really no good answer for which soil we are, and its not easy to face that.

Kinds of Soil:

Hard Path – Lack of understanding: Sin

Rocky Soil – Trouble or persecution

Soil with weeds/thorns – Worries, pleasures, deceitfulness of wealth

Good Soil – is broken soil: It needs the right nutrients to produce strong plants (garbage, manure); a planted seed under-goes change and takes time to grow to maturity

Seeds need – Sun, soil and rain to grow; God uses all three to produce change; He is God of regeneration, restoration and renewal.

Key Players:

Sower = God

Seed    = Message of the Kingdom/Gospel

Soil   = Heart of the hearers

Evil one = Devil, Satan

   If we allow ourselves to admit it, we would find that we are different soils at different places in our lives. Maybe we are on the hard path in dealing with fear, rocky soil with lust or envy, Weedy soil with prayer and trust, and Good Soil with compassion and understanding. Everyone is different and as you let yourself take an honest look at your heart you will too find that your relationship with the Trinity is not just one way but there are many areas in your life that need different approaches.

What Soil are you today? At lunch? Tomorrow? At church? At work? With your friends?