One of my passions is landscape gardening. As a child, I put soil in a little paper cup, next a seed, then water, and then put the cup in the window. Then the not-so-patient waiting began. The seed looked dry and dead. But the power of life God has put inside the seed to break forth and reproduce itself in multiples, given the right growing conditions, has never ceased to WOW me!
In my lifetime, I have started many new vegetable and flowerbeds. The prep work needed to start new beds is hard work. One particular vegetable garden bed stands out above all the others . . . so far. It was at our new house in a new subdivision. Only a very thin layer of topsoil had been returned to the lot after our house was built.
In the fall, a friend came with his garden tractor, tiller attached, to till up my new garden plot (20 feet x 40 feet). This was no baby tractor and tiller he brought, yet the tiller tines bounced along the surface during his first pass . . . and the second pass. But eventually, he was able to break up the ground. Ken and I then cleared out the rocks and dug in, as best we could, horse manure and leaves and left the bed to winter’s freezing and thawing. Our friend came back in the spring and tilled it again. We repeated the tilling in of horse manure, leaves, and grass clippings each fall. Our reward: the most beautiful, black garden soil ever . . . the first part of the right growing conditions for seed.
What a graphic visual for me as I read the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13.
The footpath (hard path) . . . God’s word bouncing along the surface of a heart lacking in understanding. Seed snatched away before it can even sprout.
The shallow soil (rocky soil) . . . get all excited about the word of God, which begins to grow but “topsoil” has too many “rocks” (life’s problems and persecution) to retain water and sustain growth. Wilting sets in.
The thorny ground . . . sidetracked . . . too busy for God . . . the cares of life and the lure and pursuit of wealth / things crowd out God and His word. No crop/fruit.
The fertile soil . . . teachable heart, accepting the word of God into my spirit, producing a bountiful harvest, not just for my life but to share with others!
When I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, here’s what God did . . .
“And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.” Ezekiel 36:26 NLT
“I'll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I'll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that's God-willed, not self-willed. I'll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands.” Ezekiel 36:26 Message Bible
Now it’s up to me. My heart, like making good garden soil, is an ongoing process . . . a tilling up of my heart by the word of God and the Holy Spirit exposing those things . . . doubt, fear, unbelief, offense, cares of the world, pursuit of wealth / things, etc. . . . which keep the word of God from producing fruit in my life.
This post and the last one have been the same verses I have been reading lately! What stands out to me like you said is the tilling up of my heart is an ongoing process. "The seeds that fell in good soil stand for those who hear the message and retain it in a good and obedient heart, and they PERSIST until they bear fruit." Luke 8:15 I must persevere until i produce fruit.
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