A Lesson on Potting Soil

In Jesus's parable of the sower, we read about a farmer who desires to produce a great harvest by sowing many seeds across his land (Luke 8:1-15).  Unfortunately, we see that many of the seeds fall in places where the terrain is unfit for the seed to take root and flourish.  Some are scorched by the sun, others snatched up by birds or trampled by passersby, and still others are choked out by weeds (vs. 5-7).  It is the seeds that fall on the “good soil” that take root and are able to grow into a bountiful harvest.  Jesus reveals to us that “the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop” (Luke 8:15).  Therefore, the all-important question is:  which soil are you planted in?  

“…true spiritual fruit comes from getting swept up in intimate, loving encounters with Jesus Christ.  His love is the soil in which all the fruits of the Spirit grow.  When our roots abide there, then joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control grow naturally in our hearts.”

I love this quote from page 13 of Pastor JD Greear’s book Gospel:  Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary – and I’m not just saying that because he’s my pastor at The Summit Church.  JD is a Spirit-filled teacher of the Word and I am so thankful for his leadership of our church and in our community.  In this quote, Pastor JD reminds us that we need to prayerfully examine the soil in which we find ourselves digging roots.  Think practically about this example.  If you plant yourself in the soil of bitterness, aren’t you going to bear bitter fruit?  Our roots will dig down in the bitter soil and draw up poison that will suck the life out of the plant.  It’s clear that any fruit produced will be poisoned – completely worthless and harmful for others.  Only by abiding in the love of Christ are we planted in His “good soil” full of beneficial nutrients, and from this soil we are enabled to bear the fruits of the Spirit as well as eternal fruit for God’s Kingdom!

As it is written in 1 Peter, “you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God… Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind” (1:23 and 2:1).  Examine your life.  Are you producing fruit that is not of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)?  

Is your life full of such things as malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander?  If so, you may be in one of two situations:

1) You may not be planted in the “good soil” of salvation freely given to us by the saving blood of Jesus Christ.  Whatever the case and circumstance might be for you, know that God desires that you would plant yourself in the life-giving soil of the gospel, which is the good news that Jesus Christ paid our sin-debt living the perfect life we could not live and dying the gruesome death we deserved to die.  Trust in His saving grace alone to be your nourishment and sustenance. (See Ephesians 2:1-10)

2) You may find yourself planted in the good soil but you are filling your life with sinful things that poison any fruit produced.  When we let our garden get over grown with sin, it is impossible to bear Spirit-filled fruit that comes naturally when we are abiding in Christ.  Prayerfully consider the root of your “bad fruit” and confess that sin to God.  Remember that there is nothing – no good works, no self-help books, no “to do” lists – that we can do to fix our own sin problem.  It is through Christ's work on the cross that God provided a way for us to abide with him in love and peace.  Trying to be more disciplined, watch less TV, listen to better music, gossip less, or plaster on a fake smile will only cause our hearts to run farther away from God and deeper into self-reliance.  We must abide in the love of Christ, resting in the knowledge that he has accomplished everything necessary for our salvation and there is nothing we can add to “tetelestai” - it is finished!

I am praying that you would find yourself planted in the only soil that gives abundant life, and that as you dig your roots deeper and deeper into the gospel of Jesus Christ, He would fill you with an inexpressible joy (1 Peter 1:8) and desire to know Him more.