Good soil

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Permalink Reply by Colby on October 9, 2013 at 11:07pm

Great questions!  Thank you for posting this topic.  It's a blessing to see you contribute to the Forum.

 

I think we can find the answers in the Parable of the Sower and the Seed (Luke 8:4-15;  Mark 4:3-9; Mat 13:3-9).  Jesus tells us in the parable that the seed is the Word of God; the same term that the Gospel uses to describe Jesus himself.  The picture this parable paints is one of a God who indiscriminately scatters his Word without concern where it might fall.  In other words, God’s love is so deep, so broad, and so high that it’s God’s intention to spread it everywhere, even in places where it might one day be trampled under foot or choked out. It’s God’s desire and intention that there will be nowhere and no one out of the reach of his wild, yet loving aim.  

 

Yet Jesus knows that however indiscriminate God’s love is, the seed that is God’s word of love to us, has to one day grow up and produce fruit. Jesus makes it clear that the soil is the heart of humanity. What will happen to the seed of God’s love as it begins to grow and push out into fruit? Well, that depends, Jesus says, on the soil’s location.  Three kinds of soil represent the unsaved.

• If we are “a hard path,” then the seed can never take root at all.  This soil is the person with a hardened heart that rejects the Gospel because they are blind and unteachable.  They don't want to understand the Gospel.
• If “rocks” surround us, then the seed will take root, but its roots won’t be deep enough to produce fruit. This soil is the person who eagerly receives the gospel initially, but when their new faith is tested by trial or they are persecuted because of it, their faith quickly dies.
• And, if we surround ourselves with thorns, then it will choke out the seed before it can produce any fruit at all.  This soil is the person who receives the Gospel but has a lukewarm response.  They place other priorities above the good news of Jesus Christ. 

Each of us can name the hard paths, the rocks, and the thorns in our own lives.  Jesus does say that it has to do with our own hard-heartedness, our own inability to remain faithful when troubles arise, and our own susceptibility to “the lure of wealth.” These are the parts of our lives that prevent us from receiving God’s love and having it take root, grow in our hearts, and produce fruit.  In the end, the saved will be those that are good soil.

 

God's grace and God's grace alone saves us.  That's the first shoe that falls.  But the other is that God's love must take root in our hearts.  And if it does, it will produce fruit.  This parable tells us that the amount of fruit produced by each Christian will vary.

 

I also see a connection with what Paul describes as central gifts of Christian life: faith, hope and love. As Gifts of God these are ours for the taking and ours for living in.  They are both God’s doing and our living within God’s kingdom.  God’s action and human action are not mutually exclusive.  On the contrary, we are most truly human when we are dependent on the grace of God, dependent on the grain of his harvest, accepting of it and living into it.

 

The grace of God brings us to our true humanity. His power does not run over us like a bulldozer, or turn us into lifeless puppets dangling from strings of an unseen and unknown puppeteer.  When the seeds that God have planted fall on fertile soil, they flourish, developing roots and producing fruit, and we are awakened to a new life by the grace of God in Jesus Christ and the regeneration of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us.  So what kind of soil are we?

 

If we are good soil, then we have cause for joy.  We have become true followers of Jesus saved by grace, regenerated and sanctified by and receiving/using the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

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Permalink Reply by a servant (Chris) on October 10, 2013 at 10:32am

Thank you Colby, I do attempt to contribute, just seems not always correct.   As I was considering this subject, I was looking at my heart.  Wanting to be good soil, yet knowing at times I have been all the different soils described.  Feeling Blessed by His Strength that, when I see I am not where I need to be, I can change by His Strength and His Will. 

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Permalink Reply by Richard L. Broch, Sr. on October 10, 2013 at 10:44pm

Hi Guys,

Chris, I echo Colby in seeing you in print.

 

I have to tell you.......You really set me digging on this subject-matter. My text for study is Matthew 13:18-23.

3 types of soils: Good soil.....bad soil...... good soil winding up bad, because of thorns and weeds, etc. covering it. 

 

Bad soil, does not change ( beside the road, shallow, rocky). This would be a life-long nonbeliever, or who maybe tried coming to Christ,  but fizzled out after "heat" and negativity as Jesus described.

Good soil...receives Christ, produces 100,60,30 percent of the nine fruit of the Spirit for a life-time......OR.......

Good soil...that goes bad, because of thorns, and weeds over grow it due to cares, worries, riches taking over. Now, this good soil can be brought back with mowing, digging, and work to make it good again. 

 

Yes Chris, I think Jesus categorized all of humanity in these examples of different types of soils.

What is good soil? Good soil contains love, faith, and obedience. Where do these come from? From the Holy Spirit. I particularly like Colby's reference about "God's love taking root, grow in our hearts, and produce fruit."

How can this good soil go bad? From getting wrapped up with personal needs and desires, power and possessions, and pride. These are the temptations that Satan used trying to tempt Jesus in Matthew 4.

Can soil become good again? Yes.....I believe the Lord's parable of The Prodigal Son is an excellent example of repentance and welcoming back to be "good soil" again. (Luke 15:11).

 

Grace and Peace.

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Permalink Reply by Colby on October 11, 2013 at 1:41pm

I believe it's clear (as Richard wrote) that Jesus in the Parable of the Sower uses the example of soil as a metaphor for each of us.  We, humanity, are the soil in which the seed (Jesus and the gospel message) is planted by the sower (God).   Jesus describes "good soil" and gives three examples of "bad soil."

 

The parable implies that whether or not the seeds will grow and produce fruit depends more on the condition of the soil it lands on than the diligence of the sower.  The sower, Jesus says, scatters his seed carelessly and indiscriminately in all kinds of soil.  God sows his seed everywhere, extravagantly (as if he has an unlimited supply), and sometimes they sprout up where we would least expect them. 

 

So rich, layered, and deep in meaning are the parables of Jesus that they invite interpretation on more than one level.  When I first read it, my take away was that Jesus is examine ourselves and the kind of soil we are, exhorting us to "be good soil" for God.  And I certainly think that's a reasonable interpretation of his message as well as a worthy endeavor.

 

A second interpretation, which also focuses on us, is that we too are meant to be the sowers of God's seed (though, he is the ultimate sower), in word and deed.   We do by proclaiming and sharing the Gospel or Good News, following the example of Christ, and living out and sharing God's love abundantly as he does with us.

 

This parable is disturbing.  If we are honest with ourselves, we will acknowledge that there are times when we are bad soil.  We may fear that we will end up being seed that does not produce, lacking sufficient roots or choked out by weeds.  Jesus tells us in this parable that discipleship, following him, comes with a cost (persecution, ridicule, scorn, suffering, etc.).  Many who initially come to faith with enthusiasm soon fall away because it wasn't the smooth sailing they expected.

Which soil am I?  Which soil are you?

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Permalink Reply by Colby on October 11, 2013 at 3:09pm

"Good Soil"

1)  Hears the Word.

2)  Understands the Word (in their minds and  in their hearts).

3)  Lives by the Word (nourished by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit)

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Permalink Reply by a servant (Chris) on October 13, 2013 at 8:38am

my Brothers I want to Thank you for sharing what you have been shown or see.  I do believe we can change.  Yet, it is ONLY with the Help from the Love we see in The Father, The Son, and The Spirit, Who I believe openness our eyes to see the Truth.  As Jesus encourages us as we walk the path set before us all.  Our paths may be different, still the designations is the Same. 

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