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Phew! This is the last look at our soil, if you’ve missed the first two, catch up here.

SOIL NUMBER THREE:

vs. 8: Still others fell on good ground and produced a crop: some 100, some 60, and some 30 times what was sown.

vs. 23: But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does bear fruit and yields: some 100, some 60, some 30 times what was sown.”

When I really want a plant to live and flower, I work hard from the beginning. I throw aside the old soil and till up fresh, fertile soil. I work diligently for them, building trellaces to grow up and water them properly.

This is how our hearts should be when it comes to things of God. It sounds hard to “till our hearts and minds” but that’s exactly what Scripture calls us to do. This looks pretty similar for all of us. Eliminate the distractions like phones and televisions. Get alone with God regularly and frequently.

THE CALL TO ACTION

vs. 9: Anyone who has ears should listen!

This is where the fruit of the Spirit begins. With a heart that is ready for God to speak, feet eager to move where He leads, and a flesh willing to obey.

Read the next post in this series: http://wp.me/p2xHae-9q

So we just finished talking about soil number one: the hard path. Now we keep plowing ahead (pun intended) into the next category of dirt. Remember, we can’t produce the Fruit of the Spirit unless we start with the right soil.

SOIL NUMBER TWO:

vs. 5-7: Others fell on rocky ground, where there wasn’t much soil, and they sprang up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep.  But when the sun came up they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered.  Others fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them.

vs. 20-22: And the one sown on rocky ground—this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.  Yet he has no root in himself, but is short-lived. When pressure or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the seduction of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

There’s a middle ground for soil. It’s referred to as the rocky ground. If you visited us at our apartment, you would think that our grass is green. But if you examined it closely, you would realize that the ground cover is about 90% weeds. Yes, some grass grows, but most is killed by the weeds because there is only so much sun, water, and soil space to go around.

I’m afraid this category describes many Christians today. We know that Christ rescued us; we responded with joy and enthusiasm. But now that time has passed, the Bible feels boring and irrelevant so we stop reading it. We want to love Scripture but if we don’t pass the test tomorrow we’ll be in trouble so we study for school instead. We want to tell our friends about the love of Christ but we’re afraid that they’ll make fun of us so we stay silent instead.

Eventually, the things of this world take over until we are consumed with thoughts for them. The truth that once grew is killed by the weeds of worry and selfishness.

Growing up, I thought my heart could only be described as either the path, the rocky soil, or the fertile soil. On the whole, I think I have fertile soil. When I read and hear Scripture, I truly have a desire to implement the truths in my life. But I can feel the effects of this rocky soil trickling in.

I know I need to pray, read the Bible, and memorize Scripture. But I can never master all three at once. In the winter, I was fervently memorizing passages of Scripture but not spending as much time in prayer. Now, I have slacked off on passage memorization and yet have once again been strengthening my prayer life.

We need to constantly be looking for areas in our spiritual life that are becoming bogged down with the weeds of this world and work to till them up so that we can maintain a right relationship with God.

Read the next post in this series: http://wp.me/p2xHae-9h

Did you miss the first radio interview last Saturday?

Did you listen and have been wanting to hear it again?

No worries – technology to the rescue!

Click here for the For Faith and Family interview about the book, Ruth: Replacing Superficial with Substance.

Oh yeah – and there’s a 15% discount!!!

I want a house with a yard for a garden and a patio lined with flowers. Right now, I have an apartment with four pots at the front door and a window planter. It doesn’t really feel like gardening when you have to fill your pitcher with water from the bath tub.

Nonetheless, I am excited to say that our sugar snap peas sprouted from the dirt yesterday. This morning, I marveled at the delicate leaves that are beginning to open. And, of course, I was thrilled to use them as a segway back into the blog series – Fruit Need Roots.

If you remember my garden last year, I grew the sugar snap peas in the window planter along with bell peppers. This season, I decided the peas needed more soil in order to get a bigger harvest. So they are planted in my biggest pot outside our front door.

Agriculturally speaking, that seems like a basic fact. I planted my seeds in dirt. But spiritually, there are profound implications. Is your faith planted in soil?

If you haven’t already guessed, we’re going to look at the Parable of the Sower from Matthew 13. Jesus describes three types of soils to His followers.

SOIL NUMBER ONE:

vs. 4: As he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate them up.

vs. 19: When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one sown along the path.

Some of us have a heart like this soil. We hear but we never listen. It’s not that no one has ever explained the gospel  to us– it’s that we never cared. Our Bible gathers dust on the shelf and our mind wanders as we doodle through sermons. This is a dangerous state to live in.

It’s even more dangerous to say, “I never have a heart like this path” or maybe even “I’m a Christian who has accepted the Gospel so this doesn’t apply to me anymore.” In my own life, I don’t think  my entire heart has ever been hardened away from God all at once (praise to the Father!) But I have had those lows in my relationship with God that I have not wanted to talk to Him. No matter how many Scripture verses or sermons I heard on the topic of prayer, I didn’t change my routine. I was doing just fine on my own.

I had a hard heart (and a hard head!) in that aspect of my life. So before we breeze past this first type of spiritual soil, take a moment to reflect on your life. Are there aspects of your life that you are withholding from God?

As we’ll continue to see, we’ll need every ounce of fertile soil in order to produce righteous Fruit of the Spirit.

Read the next post in this series: http://wp.me/p2xHae-97