"Good soil is worked soil."

So first off, just wanna say congrats to our graduated seniors. Graduation was fun and I enjoyed getting to see all of you afterwards. Especially the guys with the cigars! That was hilarious.

But anyways. Very proud of y’all.

So on May 12, 2017. I graduated myself. May 18th, Erin and I, after the long awaited arrival of our moving company, finally moved into our home! The whole process has been fun and exciting with new experiences and responsibilities.

With the home that Erin and I now live in came the new responsibility, primarily given to me, of looking after our yard! Our home came with a little bit of a back and front yard which is exciting to me. However, when Erin and I first got to our home, it was unbelievable the kind of weeds that were growing in our yard! Our backyard was practically all weeds and the front yard was and still kind of is covered up in them. Part of our responsibilities to owning our home, alongside taking care of what the Lord has given us, is taking care of our yard and home to be presentable.

Well in order to take care of this yard and to help it be presentable is to understand what kind of soil and seed I need to help the growth. I’d love for my yard to look just as good as our neighbors, but it’s gonna take work. Say it with me.

GOOD SOIL IS WORKED SOIL.

Well in the Bible, Jesus talks about the spiritual life of our souls as soil. He actually compared us to different types of soil in the Bible and it’s fascinating how simple and accurate this parable describes us. Not only are we heading into another season of summer, but we’re in a new season as a student ministry. We need help with understanding the spiritual state of our ministry right now and I believe these passages are going to speak to that for us. They’re gonna give us perspective. Let’s go ahead and turn to .

Matthew 13:1–9 ESV

1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”

First off, what’s a parable?

Matthew 13 ESV

1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.” 10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “ ‘ “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” 15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. 18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” 24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ” 31 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” 33 He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” 34 All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” 36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. 44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. 47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 51 “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” 53 And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, 54 and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” 58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.

“Earthly representation of a heavenly meaning.”

Jesus is simplifying things for us by using things we’re familiar with. This is amazing and a demonstration of his love and desire for us.

Second, lets discuss this passage.

Verses 3-9 describe an individual going out among the ground throwing seed. The Bible calls this “sowing” the seed. So let’s imagine we’re at my house and we’re throwing seed around to hope for a good yard because, AGAIN, remember it looks terrible. PICTURES HERE

As we’re walking around throwing the seed, you will start to notice that there’s certain parts of my yard that are just struggling. Like there’s just bare clay, weeds, or just rocks and no grass. It’s sad I know, but that’s why we’re out throwing seed out to help the growth. We want to see good growth and a healthy yard.

Jesus describes the types of soil just like we’re seeing in my yard. Let’s look again. We got...

seed fell along the path, birds came and got it.

other seeds fell on rocky ground, didn’t have much depth of soil, sprouted up quick, but when the sun came out, notice the text says they had no root , and they withered.

other seeds fell among thorns, thorns grew up, choked them.

Lastly, seed fell on good soil and produced grain!

SAY IT WITH ME…GOOD SOIL IS WORKED SOIL.

JESUS’ EXPLANATION FOR US

Matthew 13:18–23 ESV

18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

Matthew 13:

What’s the significance of good soil?

Any gardener will tell you, the key to having good growth and bearing strong plants, is good soil.

But good soil requires tilling, working, and constant work to keep it soft, moist, and ready for planting. It’s the first step and certainly the most important step in growing plants.

For us, in order for the Word to take root and produce within us, we must be prepared and worked on. I believe God’s hand and the Holy Spirit are vital in the tilling of our hearts in preparing us to receive God’s Word implanted into our souls.

We’ve got to be willing and ready people okay to be worked on.

Application

Here’s one of the ways we can begin to work on ourselves and be prepared as vulnerable, ready servants for the Lord.

I’ve been here long enough to start to perceive and see that Alex is sometimes a sore subject or just a flat out disappointment and I understand you. I get that you are frustrated or upset with previous leadership. Or, I’ve got to hear the frustration with our ministry and how difficult it’s been enduring in between that gap of Alex leaving and Erin and I arriving.

Look I’m not disregarding your frustrations, opinions, and legitimate concerns. Lord knows you are probably justified in the mishandling of what God has given us.

Let me shepherd you and share what the Lord has to say about our situation.

Romans 13:1–7 ESV

1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Romans 13:

Y’all I love and understand you, but let’s be grateful for what God has brought us through and brought us too. Let’s remember that we are seasonal people and God has placed leadership over us for a time such as now and he had leaders over us for a time such as then. Let’s not tear down what the Lord used. Let’s instead reflect, be grateful, and learn from the previous season. No more talking bad about Alex.

There’s a reason why Jesus referred to us all the time as sheep and he himself as the shepherd. We need to be told where to feed, where to lay down, where safety and shelter is, because at a moments notice, we are just like sheep, and can easily get ourselves in danger or hurt. We are fragile beings.