Cultivating soil

Last week I spent the bulk of my waking hours breaking up dirt and getting the soil prepared for sod to be laid. It was monotonous, boring, and frustrating. The soil was a mixture of dirt and rock making cultivation seemingly impossible. During the job, I did my best Brother Lawrence imitation as I began to think of the spiritual metaphors that existed in the situation. I began to think of how that rocky soil all too often was a good descriptor of the soil of my spiritual life. The parable of Matthew 13:3-9 came to mind...

Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds of the air came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundred-fold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!

Spirituality seems to require lots of self surrender, soil that has been well tended, turned, and broken down into dirt ready to receive seed and grow it into something useful. The question is, how willing are we to be tilled and broken down until we are good soil? As far as these blessings or seeds God desires to plant in us, we have to really want them and only those prepared to receive them will consistently be transformed by them.

And it seems we have to always be ready for this seed to fall because we never know when it will according to John 3:8

The wind (or Spirit) blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

I suppose none of us in our right mind invite this breaking down of the soil of our heart, but when it starts happening how will we handle it?

Comments

[Wes Roberts]

...let's talk about how you think you will handle it. Good post...very good!!!