HOPE FOR ALL SOILS

He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, "Behold, a farmer went out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them. Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn't have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth. When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
(Mat 13:3-9 WEB (R))

For lunch, whenever I am able to, I love to walk along different trails in the area where I work. I get to enjoy communion with our Father and much meditation and reading during those walks. Just yesterday, I received a thought concerning this parable that was confirmed to me as I walked the trail that day.

On the surface, it appears as though these soils, which he later interprets to mean hearts, are either people who NEVER benefit from the seed, which is the word of God, making up most of humanity, or they are people who do benefit from the seed, making up the few. Seen in this way, it would appear as though most are in a hopeless situation if their hearts are of the first 3 types of soil. I believe, however, that in spite of the grim outcome he speaks concerning those first 3 soils having seed cast on them, there is yet hope, a hope that is found right in the parable, but made hidden as a sod teaching. "Sod" is a Hebrew word meaning "secret." Here is the secret I believe is hidden there.

Did you every notice that this farmer is spoken of as going out to sow on just one occasion? All of the various soils the seed ends up on are from that single sowing. When I was walking on the trail, I could see the same basic idea right before my eyes. As I would look around at any given point on my hike, I could see these various conditions. The trail part was indeed roadlike, very hard and compact. There were parts that had rocks on them. Off a bit was softer soil, and then further out were areas so overfilled with weeds and brush, you could not even see the ground. So I could take a bunch of seed and toss it out and literally get it on all these types of soil right from one spot most of the time.

I purposefully spoke of the 'conditions' of the soil, because, (and here is the hidden truth staring us right in the face) all of the soils were basically the same. It was the conditions which made the soils either able to benefit from the seed or not! Think on that for a bit.

The roadside has hard, compacted soil. Put seed on that, and it never penetrates so as to sprout. However, what if you tilled that area? That soil would then be in a condition suitable for growth.

The rocky ground has little soil, but what if you were to take the rocks away and again, till the soil underneath it? That soil would then be in a condition suitable for growth.

The thorns in the soil will choke out any sprouted seed, but, (and by now you should know where I am heading) if you clean up the thorns, and till the ground, once again, the soil would be in a condition suitable for growth.

Speaking of soil with thorns, this reminded me of what I was shown before, that which is written in the book of Hebrews, something which again, seems very grim, but is actually full of hope; and that is the following parable of what happens to soil producing thorns and thistles:

but if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and near being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
(Heb 6:8 WEB (R))

Sounds very harsh, doesn't it? So where is the hope? It is found in the reason for the burning. This is a common agricultural practice, one that is also practiced on the trails I hike. Along the way, I will find signs which give the dates for controlled burns in a given area. These are deliberate burnings of a section of forest for the purpose of clearing away what had become an area overgrown with underbrush. It is indeed a harsh, but overall, a beneficial burning, for as the land recovers, it is given new life, since all the choking of the underbrush is gone. This practice was also done in areas overgrown with thorns and such, in order to PREPARE IT FOR SEEDING.

Most hearts are indeed of the first 3 types, yet my hope lies in the master Farmer, who, in his time, will prepare each and every vestige of soil for the receiving and growing of seed, to the point where the word of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

Ron