Good Soil

"The farmer sows the Word." Mark 4:14

I love this parable in Mark chapter 4. As I read it and thought about it, 2 words kept coming to mind.

Good soil.
Good soil.

I am like the farmer in the lives of my children. God uses me to work with Him to prepare the soil of their hearts for His Word. How can I make the soil of my children's hearts good? I pray for wisdom to be a faithful farmer.

A farmer is a busy man. He is not lazy.
Being a farmer is not glamorous, not showy.
He does the work himself.
He plans ahead.
He adjusts his schedule for the day's work - early to bed, early to rise.
He is willing to get his hands dirty.
He knows that he will not see the fruit of his labor right away.

He works his soil to prepare it for planting. He works in compost and throws out the unhealthy influences of rocks and pulls the weeds. It is a work and doesn't happen on its own.

I've learned something about unhealthy influences: there's usually some good mixed in with the bad. I have to be careful to see it for what it is - a rock/a weed that chokes and hinders.

The farmer doesn't turn the rock over in his hand, exclaiming, "But this one's so pretty, surely it won't do much harm." He throws it out and doesn't look back.

I pray for the wisdom of a farmer. To boldly throw out that which is unhealthy, to do the work, to wait patiently for the reward, and to faithfully trust that what I'm planting is taking root.

Good soil.
Good soil.