Good Soil: Mark 4:20

Good soil produces a good harvest.  As someone who frequently struggles to grow plants, I always raise an eyebrow at this thought.  I cannot tell you how many times I have planted things only to watch them not grow.  If I am being fully transparent, though, I’m not the world’s best gardener.  In the beginning I get all excited and stir up the soil.  Then I put in the seeds.  And then I water them.  But I don’t necessarily do a good job of making sure they stay watered.  And I don’t do a great job of weeding.  And if I see bugs on them, I don’t always do the best job of making sure the bugs aren’t eating the plants.  Yet, if I let the soil get too dry, if I don’t do anything about the slugs and the bugs, and I don’t weed as well as I could then is it good soil?  Can I fault the seed for not growing when I didn’t provide it a good environment?

As Jesus says here, good soil promotes growth.  The seeds take root.  The soil is free and open so the plants have room to grow and spread out.  The ground is clear so they don’t have to compete for resources.  The plants grow and there is a harvest.  The harvest is a foregone conclusion so long as the soil is good.

Unlike me, God is a pretty good gardener.  If we are open to receiving the Word, God doesn’t have any trouble watching over it and making sure that the seed has what it needs to grow.  Unlike me, who walks away from my garden – sometimes for days on end, God is omnipresent.  He doesn’t need to walk away from the Word as it grows within us.  He’ll be there always.  Unlike me, who sometimes forgets to water, God is omnipotent.  He’ll be there to give your heart whatever it needs to help the Word grow in your life.  Unlike me, who doesn’t bother to pull the weeds when they are small and easily pulled, God is happy to be there and help us identify the things in our life that are going to get in the way of the Word and its growth.

God knows there will be a good harvest.  If we are open to receiving the Word, it will grow and produce a harvest in our life.  It might take some time.  We might not always see the growth, but I don’t always see the plants in my garden grow from day to day, either.  We can trust there will be a harvest.  Sometimes it is a huge harvest.  As Jesus says, sometimes the harvest is a hundredfold compared to what was put in.  Sometimes the harvest is smaller.  There will, however, always be a harvest.

Good soil produces a good harvest.