The Soil Samples

Because of an unusual series of events, I ended up leading the Sunday School class yesterday. 

The passage was from Mark 4, the story of the Sower and The Seed. As I studied to prepare, I realized the story is not as much about the soil on which I "sow my seed" as it is about the state of the soil in my heart. 

The picture of the soil in my garden flashed in my mind. I took three canning jars and went to the garden. Black, rich potting soil went in one jar. The dry, rocky dirt from my failed garden went in the second jar. 

In the third jar, I put a layer of the dry, rocky, weed-laden soil, and covered it with a layer of potting soil, because my heart is seldom completely fertile soil. I wish it always were, but I'm not all God desires me to be. Yet.

If we're honest, we all have a mixture of heart-soil that probably fluctuates from one time to another. Sometimes we have rocky heart-soil, sometimes weed-laden soil, sometimes rich, fertile soil. Most of the time, we have a mixture.

As I carried my soil samples back to the house, I considered the actual soil samples I'd collected and sent to the Extension Service a few days earlier. In a week or so, I'll receive a report that tells me what to add to the soil to enrich it. If I want rich, fertile soil, I'll have to do something to the ground to have it.

In that same way, we can have rich, fertile heart-soil if we are willing to make the changes needed to have it.  We can have optimum receptivity to the word of God. If we want it. 

Just as I'll add lime and fertilizer, potash and other enrichments, to my actual garden, so we need to add those things that make our hearts more receptive to God. The best place to begin is with the Word of God, which is the Sword of the Spirit. That flashing Sword can cut through the rockiest of soil, pulverizing the stony places in our heart. 

It aerates and loosens the clods, reveals the weeds (cares of this world and the busy-ness of our lives), and helps us to remove those things choking out the growth God desires.

Repentance and humility are essential, but the Word of God is where we start.

We passed around the soil samples yesterday, and I was impressed all over again about the importance of tending the soil, in our literal gardens and in the garden of our hearts. I want fertile soil, in both gardens, not because I prefer rich soil, but because rich soil is the best way to produce a harvest. 

God isn't looking for rich soil to serve as fallow ground. He wants rich soil to produce a harvest. The better the soil, the bigger the harvest.

As it turns out, I have some work to do. In both my literal and my heart gardens. Maybe you do, too.

Take a look at the soil samples above. Which one best represents your heart? Is it the kind of soil you meant to have? If not, what "enhancements" are needed to change it?

"And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it, and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold." Mark 4:20 nasb

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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: The Wheelchair Hike

#soil #goodsoil #soilsamples #harvest #disciple #Jesus

The Crummy Soil and the Traveling Plants

I should've learned from past experience, but I didn't. The Hired Hand tried to tell me it was a bad idea. Repeatedly. But I didn't listen. I was determined to have a garden. A big garden. So, we forged ahead.

We plowed and harrowed and tilled until I was sick of preparations. The Hired Hand told me the ground wasn't right. We needed soil testing and to add whatever it is this ground needs. Yes, the soil in the photo is the very pitiful soil in my garden. 

"It isn't ready." He said it until I couldn't stand to hear it any more.

I planted anyway. I'd grown a garden in that crummy soil before, and I was determined to do it again.

In retrospect, my garden had always struggled in that location, but I had planted so many seeds that I managed to get as much produce as I could use. 

Yesterday, I took a serious look at the plants in my garden and made a decision. The Hired Hand is right. The soil isn't ready for a garden. I looked at my raised beds, filled mostly with "barnyard fertilizer" and realized they aren't quite ready, either. They do have nutrients in the soil that make plants grow, and they are definitely the better choice for my struggling plants.

It wasn't what I wanted to do on a Saturday, but I spent a good portion of yesterday making a swap. I carefully dug up all the Brussels sprouts and planted them in one of my raised beds. Next, I dug up all the cabbage, then the red cabbage, then the onions. They all have a new home in a raised bed with much better soil. 

Before I'm done, all the plants will have a new home. They'll make it or they won't, but, in their new home, they will definitely have a better chance to thrive.

All this has, of course, brought the parable of the sower to mind. You probably remember that story. The sower scattered seed along the roadside. Some of it fell beside the road and the birds ate it. Other seeds fell on rocky soil, others among the thorns. None of those seeds survived. 

It was only the seeds that fell on good, fertile soil that grew a crop. 

Jesus said our hearts are just like the soil. Some are so enmeshed in the world that we hear the truth of Jesus, but can't understand it. Others make a start but don't follow through. Our hearts aren't prepared to persevere enough to learn the ways of God. Some of us allow the worries of this world to choke out the truth we know.

There are only a few, Jesus said, who hear the truth of Jesus, understand it, and apply it in their lives. It is those people whose lives bear fruit in ways we cannot even imagine. They bring forth thirty, sixty, even one hundred fold what was planted in them. 

When I look at the soil in my garden, I know it needs some serious work. When I look at the soil in my heart, I can see it needs some work, too. 

What about you? 

Today, let's take a look at our own hearts. Do we have hearts of fertile soil for God's truth or not? 

If not, are we willing to allow God the freedom to change the "soil" of our hearts? 

Will we allow Him to test us and modify us so that we can begin to be the fruitful disciples He intended?

"And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty." Matthew 13:23 nasb
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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: Touching the House of God (http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2016/05/touching-house-of-god.html)

For those doing the Hosea study, the Chapter Four lesson is now live and here's the link: Chapter Four 
(http://lessonsindiscipleship.blogspot.com/2016/05/hosea-chapter-four.html)

In case you're interested, here are links to two other sower blog posts: The Roadside Seed and The Special Seed

#gardening #goodsoil #disciple 

The Good Soil: part two (Luke 8:8,15)

And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. (Luke 8:8, 15 KJV)

The good soil represents the kind of heart we want to have, so a closer look is in order. The first description of the "good soil" kind of heart is that it is "honest and good". The word translated as "honest" is kalos, and is can also be translated as fair, excellent, or honorable. Vine's Expository Dictionary defines this word as "fair, right, honorable, of such conduct as deserves esteem".  

Blueletterbible.com lists a usage of the word that is particularly enlightening. Kalos, it says, can be used to mean "beautiful by reason of purity of heart and life, and hence praiseworthy". Isn't that a lovely description?  Beautiful because of the purity of heart and life.  Imagine that. It is the kind of heart we are supposed to have in order to be fruitful in the kingdom of God. 

The question all of us must answer is whether or not our heart is beautiful because of the purity there. Is our heart so pure that it manifests itself in purity of life?  How can we know? The lifestyle we choose, the choices we make, the things we do when no one is looking, the way we treat others, are all products of our purity of heart, and they all demonstrate the truth of our heart. 

If we want to be beautiful by reason of the purity of our lives, we must start by having purity of heart. But how? How do we achieve purity of heart? We can't buy it. The psalmist found that he could not achieve a pure heart on his own at all. In fact, he found that there was something very important that prevented a clean heart. "Create in me a clean heart," he prayed. (Psalm 51:10). The creation of a clean heart, however, only came after an acknowledgment of sin. 

Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. (Psalms 51:2-3 KJV)

Can you see it?  The way to have this beautiful life of purity is to admit our sins, confess them, and ask God to cleanse us. Purity of life comes only from purity of heart, and that comes only by the forgiveness of God. 

Is there something in your life that needs to go? For what do you need to seek forgiveness from God? 

Pray today (for ourselves and our loved ones) that our sin would be "ever before us" and that it would propel us to the only One who can forgive and cleanse. 

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Link to last night's post: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/07/tracking-storms-and-more.html

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The Good Soil (Luke 8:8, 15)

Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great." As He said these things, He would call out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance. (Luke 8:8, 15 NASB)

The good soil. What a wonderful analogy!  This soil is fertile, watered, and free of rocks and thorns. The imagery is one of rich, well-tilled garden soil. When the seed lands in this rich earth, it sprouts quickly, grows rapidly, and produces both a lush, healthy plant and an abundant harvest. 

Our lives of faith are supposed to be like the seed that lands in fertile soil. Everything we need to be successful and productive in our faith has been provided. Our job is to keep our heart free of those rocks and thorns, keep the living water flowing, and allow growth to occur. It's our job to stay close to Jesus so that we can become all He intended. 

Note that it is success in our faith and productivity in our faith that is the goal, not success by the world's standards. We who are so abundantly blessed in material things can easily forget that most of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world walk out their faith in far different circumstances. Many of them would say that the relative poverty and persecution they face allows fewer distractions and a closer relationship with Christ. 

At the end of our lives, the question will not be how much "stuff" have we accumulated, but how much faithfulness have we exhibited and how much fruit have we borne. 

Let's take a look at our own lives today. Do we have "fertile soil" in our hearts? Are there thorns, rocks, or drought that hamper our growth? Are we bearing fruit?  What changes do we need to make?

Pray today that we and our loved ones would have such fertile, well-watered soil that we would consistently, constantly bear fruit. 

-------http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-most-important-vaccination.html

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