I was talking to a friend today about my lack of ability to make myself a priority in my own life. I will turn myself inside out like an octopus for someone else but if I have plans that are inconvenient to others… I will usually drop my own. I like to think of this as a wonderfully sweet trait, but I’m not so sure it is.
How can I yield to God’s cultivation of my life if I don’t even cultivate it myself?! How can I allow God to mature things in me if I won’t spend the time working diligently on me? What might seem generous to others takes away from God’s ability to grow me, when taken too far.
I need to allow myself to be changed. I need to get rid of some bad habits. I need to learn to correct myself. And I need to yield my desire to “not disappoint others” to God and let Him train me. As my beautiful friend reminded me, a full life is a combination of sacrifice AND self (not just self sacrifice).
Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Matthew 13:3-8
Although this is often known as the parable of the sower and the seed, it can also be said this is a parable about the soil. All four types of soil are essentially the same dirt but are in different conditions and respond in different ways to cultivation. What made one soil more responsive and the other less? And also… what kind of soil am I versus what I should be? Let’s take a look at the four types:
PATH: The soil on paths would compact over time as people walked them over and over. A path was never plowed and never fertilized. In the parable, the seed that is sown on the path is not able to penetrate the ground because of this constant use. The condition of the first soil is impermeable, untrained and unhealthy.
ROCKY PLACES: The second type of soil mentioned in the parable is the “rocky places” or the shallow soil where the plow didn’t cut deeply enough to break up the shale or hard ground just below the surface. This soil produced only plants with weak, shallow roots. The condition of the second soil is minimally accessible or trained so even if it is healthy it doesn’t matter much.
THORNS: The third type of soil mentioned is the thorny soil, most likely found in the corners of the field where the plow couldn’t reach; here, weeds overtook what was planted. The condition of the third soil is minimally accessible, untrained and unhealthy.
GOOD SOIL: All the types of soils mentioned here are actually in the same plot of ground with one major difference: Only one area was fully yielded to cultivation, to being changed and prepared for planting. That area was called the good soil. Therefore the condition of the third soil is accessible, trained and healthy.
The greatest amount of fruit produced was not determined by how rich the soil was, but how yielded it was. The soil in each condition received seed, but not all produced quality fruit.
What kind of soil are you? I have been a lot like like the soil on the path. Unplowed by lack of time working on myself and unfertilized by not focusing on any of my needs. I need to make myself more of a priority and do the work God has for ME. And the best way is to become “good soil” so that God can cultivate what he wants in my life.
ᖇEᑕᒪᗩIᗰEᗪ GIᖇᒪ 