What Kind Of “Soil” Am I?

What Kind Of “Soil” Am I?

“But some seed fell on rich soil,

and produced fruit,

a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

~ Matthew 13: 8

In order to appreciate the hidden secret of God’s divine plans for our salvation and his perpetual providential care the prophet Isaiah was reassured by the almighty God saying:

“My word shall not return to me void.”

At that time, the people of God were in exile in Babylon (present day Iraq) and were subsequently rescued and allowed to return to their land by the Persian (present day Iran). Our God works in a mysterious way indeed!

It is therefore important for us to reflect on the Parable of the Sower in the Gospel according to Matthew not simply from our understanding of the desire of the righteous man to do what is right, but essentially, the infinite goodness, opportunities and the grace and mercy that the almighty God has provided for us to succeed in becoming the rich soil that yield bountiful harvest and unto eternal life.

In this parable, Jesus Christ  interpreted to his disciples the meaning and implications and furthermore enlightened our understanding to realize that with him on our side, we can become the rich soil that our heavenly Father needed us to be in order to manifest his glory among man and be counted worthy of eternal life.

The seed is the word of God, and how we handle these words will result in a bountiful harvest of love, hope and faith, leading to everlasting life or actually both physical and spiritual death.

The seed on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom of God without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart.

The seed on the rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. 

The seed sown among thorns is the one, who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit.

And finally, the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understand it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirty fold. 

The questions that we must therefore seek to address become:

1      What kind of soil Am I?

2      How can I become the rich soil?

There is no human being that is completely one of these types of soil, since the heart of man is neither perfectly good nor veil, but rather a combination of these soils. 

The characteristic of the seed that fell on the path is similar to the euphoria an individual experiences during physical events such as a new job, marriage, birth of a child or other form of accomplishment in life! Initially the enthusiasm, the pleasures derived from such achievement can be unimaginable, filling us with joy and happiness, however as time goes on, this feeling may give way to certain reality that have the potential to challenge our initial happiness. The resultant effect is dryness and the inability to bear fruit.

How we handle the word of God is not any different in the physical applications of our faith!

 When we first come to know God, we are all excited and happy and grateful to appreciate a God that is so loving, kind and compassionate, full of grace, infinite goodness and mercy. However, as a result of our lack of understanding of his ways in our lives, when things do not go our own way nor conform to our expectations, we have the tendency to backslide or withdraw from the same God that we were so excited about!

 

We become a rocky ground or stony soil when the words of God, in this case the seed unfortunately cannot grow, let alone bear fruit because there is no enough soil (room) in our heart for the roots to attach themselves to. When the winds of life challenges, distress and difficulties blow our ways, we quickly loose our faith in God, and begin to search for alternatives that does not glorify God’s name in our lives. Imagine losing your job, your marriage is undergoing rocky situations and might potentially end in divorce, and what about foreclosure of your family home? 

Additionally, imagine you had a good job, but the office stress is unbecoming, as you are being made the scapegoat, with all indications that you will be fired at the slightest opportunity? And again, the resultant effect is another dryness and inability to bear fruit.

The thorns of life are the pleasures in life that takes us away from our God! We worry so much about things like retirement benefits, life insurance, health insurance, disability insurance, home insurance, car insurance, and even online security insurance, that we feel make life comfortable and secured. By and large, we believe that, somehow, it is now our responsibilities to completely take care of our very existence, the same that was given to us freely by God, and without our consent!

 Yes, these scenarios apply even to the Christians with sound mind and understanding of their faith in God. While it is good to provide for your comfort and those of your loved ones, when such desires  overshadows our abilities to have faith, hope and trust in the divine providential cares of our God, our hearts-metaphor for the soil become saturated with thorns of life and consequently, it is difficult for us to bear fruit.

WHAT KIND OF SOIL AM I?

So, what kind of soil Am I is an interesting question to reflect upon!

If the soil is our heart, and the seed is the word of God, do we have the kind of heart that will enable to seed to grow and bear fruits as in the rich soil or, are we going to end up fruitless, barren and dry?

The kind of soil that we are is determined by the choices we make in life! 

For instance, any time we are given the opportunity to choose between good and evil, and we choose to do well, for sure, the “rich soil” abides and we bear fruit. On the contrary, if we are caught up with taking the easy way out of a given situation, such as seeking the shortcuts, choosing hatred over love, war over peace, and pride over humility, engaged in activities that leads to death rather than bring and sustain life, destroy the environment, rather than cherish and preserve them, and hurt the faith of others, rather than help increase their desire to seek God, we become the “poor soil” such as the path, rocky or thorns filled and consequently cannot bear fruit.

The fruits that we are expected to bear as the rich soil in the vineyard of the Lord, our God are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self-control. These fruits enable us to live in accordance to the will of God in this life, and constantly give thanks and praises to him in recognition of his infinite love and goodness in our lives. Furthermore, we live a life of contentment and complete trust in God, by being able to accept even if we cannot understand the circumstances that have befallen us, because by faith, we know and believe that our God is always true to his promises of a better plan in our lives.

EXAMPLES OF A MAN THAT HAS A RICH SOIL HEART

There are uncountable manifestations of a man with a ‘rich soil’ heart are seen on a daily basis in our families, communities and countries through the sacrifices made in love and generosity towards a fellow mankind, which results in life, hope, increase in faith and continual thanksgiving to God.

The story was told of a young man who lost one of his legs at the age of 15 years of age due to a reckless driver! This young man rather than feel sorry for himself, find the courage to thank God for the gifts of life and love and began a Pen Pal correspondences with folks that are dealing with one form of disability or the other, especially the wounded soldiers returning from wars. He sent a letter to a man in a different country and surprisingly got a reply that will further help him draw nearer to his God and hold on to his faith.

According to this young man, he opened the letter, with the usual expectation of reading another sad stories and appeal for prayers and support and maybe auto-sign again, but instead, the reply read in part:

Dear Brother,

Thank you for your encouragement!

I want to share with you and in thanksgiving to the almighty God that I am able to be alive today and reply to your amazing letter, using my mouth to write!......

God bless you!

Sincerely your brother in Christ,……

The young man could not believe himself! Here is a man without a limb, replying his letter with so much joy and gratitude to God, and that really made a positive difference in his life. As a result of this letter, the young man doubles his effort to continue to praise God and give people the reason to always thank God no matter the circumstances that we may be facing.

HOW CAN I BECOME THE RICH SOIL?

Any time we have the opportunity to show love and for the sake of God we carry through with such task, we are making ourselves the rich soil that can yield fruits in hundred, sixty and thirty fold.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is not asking us for the impossible, on the contrary, he is telling us to come to him all of us that labor and are burdened and he will give us rest! And our faith tells us that our God never lie, as manifested even from the beginning of creation and up to this very moment and for all eternity.

The surest way we can become the rich soil that will yield fruits once the seeds are planted is to live the life of love of God and of man! We love God because the almighty and our heavenly Father first loved us and to the extent that he gave his only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ to die for us and thereby brought salvation to mankind, through the complete reconciliation of man to his God.

If God did not withhold Jesus Christ from his Passion on the Cross, by implications, there is nothing under the sun that will be too much for him to sacrifice for our well being. Consequently, we must continue to build our trust, hope and faith in God and believe that whatever he promised us, the almighty shall fulfill because his steadfast love and infinite goodness endures forever.

In line with this blessed assurance, St. Paul in his epistle to the Romans 8:18 wrote;

“Brothers and sisters: I consider that the sufferings

of this present time are as nothing

compared with the glory to be revealed for us.”

The setbacks we experience in life are the recipe for God’s comeback and victory in our lives, only if we are willing to accept our sufferings and unite them with the Passion of Christ.

Now, we cannot claim to love God that we do not see and at the same time hate our brethren!

In other words, for us to become the rich soil for the seed, which is the word of God, we must love our neighbors as ourselves. Only through love can God be manifested in our lives, for the Son of God said, “if you do this to the least of my brethren, you do it unto me.”

When you reach out to the least privilege and help them for the love of God and neither because of human pride nor the desire for man’s recognition, you will receive your reward from God and become the rich soil that already is yielding the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

When you sacrifice your time (and time is love) for your families and friends and neighbors to bring God closer to them by doing charitable work, you are a rich soil to God.

When you bear your human sufferings, especially those that are beyond your making, with joyful and hopeful expectations of divine vindications, and turning to God, rather than to human understanding, you are a rich soil.

When people persecutes you because of your faith in God and you love and pray for them, that God may touch their hearts and change them to see his goodness and eternal love for them, you are a rich soil.

When you help those who are desperately in need, without dehumanizing them, but rather you are able to see the image and likeness of God in them, you are a rich soil.

When you forgive those who hurt you especially without justification, you are a rich soil.

When you reject alternative solutions to your circumstances that will potentially compromise your faith in God, and chose to continue to suffer in joyful hope that one day God will liberate you, you are a rich soil.

DIVINE INTERVENTION

There is the tendency of becoming overwhelmed by the magnitude and challenges of being the rich soil in the world where to be such is seen as being foolish, weak and naïve, nevertheless, we cannot afford not to be one.

As a result of God’s recognition of our limitations, our heavenly Father reassured us of his constant presence in our daily struggles and promised to bring us out of captivity! How, you may ask! I therefore leave you with the words of God as documented by the prophet Isaiah 55: 10-11

Thus says the LORD:

Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.

And the will of God is for us to have eternal life, and eternal life is to believe in the one that he sent to us, his Only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

May the God bless you and may you a rich soil today! Amen.

Ref: Isaiah 55: 10-11, Romans 8:18-23, Matthew 13: 1-23

@PeterNHelenOdeh, @FocusInLove