5The sower went forth to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden under foot, and the birds of the heaven devoured it.
6And other fell on the rock; and as soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture.
7And other fell amidst the thorns; and the thorns grew with it, and choked it.
8And other fell into the good ground, and grew, and brought forth fruit a hundredfold.
- Luke 8:5-8
So when we began to plan our church garden, we chose a spot that we thought would be good. It was relatively level, had a lot of sun, and easy access. But the ground was covered by grass so we really did not what the soil was like, but this was "virgin" ground so it shouldn't be to bad, right? Well...As we started to till up the ground there were rocks everywhere, not just at the surface either, we are talking about rocks down about 18- 20 inches (I found this out by digging the holes for the fence posts). The dirt was also a light brown, not the dark brown that generally means that it is really fertile.
When we saw what the ground was like we could have given up or moved on to a better spot that was more likely to do better for a garden. We didn't, this is the spot that we felt was right for the garden. This was where we were supposed to plant our garden, so we had to make it work. We tilled it up as best we could, we raked out and hand picked out a lot of the rocks, and we added some rich soil to make the existing soil better. That was just for this year, next year we will have to do it all again, and again, and again each year. Each time the soil will get a little better and the garden will grow better each year.
Is the soil of your mind in good shape to recieve the seed of Gods Word? What have you done to prepare your soil? If your mind is full of the rocks of sin is there going to be any good soil for Gods Word to take root in? Even if there is enough for the seed to begin to grow, is there enough for it to flourish? So how do we clean up and enrich the soil of our minds? We begin by removing the rocks of sin, don't worry you don't have to get all of them before the seed will take root. Another way to enrich the soil is to be carefull what you are dumping into it. Anything you add to the soil will make a difference, good and/or bad. If you are only hanging around nonchristians, getting drunk, and doing immoral things, the soil is going to be poisoned. Going to church, having christian friends, making the morally correct choices in activities are all going to enrich the soil, so that as you read the Bible the Word of God will have a mind ready to recieve it. But like our garden, this is not a one time thing. It is an ongoing, constant process that will gradually make the soil better and better all the time.
Is your soil ready for the seed?
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