What’s Your Soil?
In Luke, Jesus talked to his disciple about seedtime and harvest. Jesus shared a parable to help get his point across, “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still, other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” His disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others, I speak in parables, so that, ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand’. This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing, they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches, and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.” (Luke
Which soil are you? Are you the type of soil that is going to allow the Word to penetrate your heart and establish roots so that you can receive every benefit that being a believer has to offer, or are you the infertile ground gallivanting around with a willing heart but somehow allowing the enemy to steal what God has planted? Could you be the type of Christian that listens contently while the minister is ministering appearing to be touched by God, but you leave unchanged?
A decision has to be made. One thing about God is that nothing is pushed upon us. Everything is a choice. We must not allow the enemy to trick us out of our inheritance. Who wants to go through life only receiving half of what has been promised to us? I don’t. If you don’t allow the Word to take root in your heart, it will have limited growth opportunities and you will not receive a harvest in its fullness.
If you read further in that same chapter of Luke it talks about allowing your light to be hidden. Don’t diminish your light for anyone. You possess the light that can bring a change to others. You have the Good News, so why not tell it. When you use your light and tell of the Good News you are activating the seed planted in the soil of your heart and can reap the harvest to its fullest potential.
When I was younger I saw people giving to my mother all of the time, and as I watched this play out time and time again, I would always wonder what she did to receive all she was receiving. Over a period of time spent observing her, I realized that what she did was simply let her light shine. I remember one night specifically, where she was in a caravan on the highway with some church members to hear my brother preach and was nearly in a car accident. The car that she was following swerved to avoid hitting something on the highway, and at that moment my mother screamed out "Jesus". The car stopped, they all got out to check on the passengers in the lead vehicle, and my mother began to shout, praise, and dance while on the side of the highway.
Her light was so adorning and graceful. I never saw her allow any circumstance or situation to diminish it. Watching her example I vowed to live my life as she did; never allowing my light to be dim. It’s been a work in progress, but I will not allow the enemy or my circumstances to dictate how I will shine. It will continue to shine bright!