Being Good Soil

This morning I was reflecting on how much the Lord has poured into my life during my times in prayer.  I had the opportunity to read some of my third book, which is taken from my blog in 2014.  As I was reading my entries, at times it was as if I was reading the writings of another author.  I was thinking about how much the Lord has poured into me, and how little I have retained.  I was feeling a bit depressed about that fact this morning, asking the Lord to help me remember more of what He has said to me and shown me.  When I opened my Bible this is the very first verse I read:

John 14:26 NIV:
"But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."

I was so encouraged that one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to teach me and remind me of what the Lord has said!  It was as if a load of responsibility was lifted from shoulders. :-)

As I am thinking back through several scriptures having to do with famers, seed and soil, it seems that my main responsibility towards fruitfulness is to be good soil, wherein the seed (God's word) can flourish and bear fruit.  In Matt 13:1-9 God is clearly the sower of the seed (word) and we are the soil.  Paul sees his role as planting seed too as he describes in the  following verses - 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 NIV:

[6] "I planted the seed (God's word in the Corinthians), Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. [7] So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow."

Thus, it is God who plants (often times through others like Paul) His word in our lives, and He makes it grow.  He reminds us and teaches us, directs us and guides us, and our primary responsibility is to be good soil.

So the next obvious question is how do I become good soil?  If I go back to the parable of the sower and seed I believe the Lord gives us a good description, especially if we look at the characteristics of the other soil and know that good soil is not like that. Here is what Jesus said about the good soil - Matthew 13:23 NIV: "But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

The primary qualities that distinguish good soil is hearing and understanding.  This requires the ability to pay attention, it is not just hearing but hearing and understanding. To hear we must attune our ears to God's voice.  We must learn to listen to Him, to take time to hear His voice.  Sometimes my sweetheart and I have what I call roving conversations.  We are walking about the house trying to talk to each other but we are constantly moving in and out of rooms,  doing things that cause us to not be able to hear one another, and thus we struggle to communicate.  We are much more successful at communicating if are in the same room paying attention to one another.  I think in our many of our daily lives, our ability to communicate with the Lord, to hear Him is much the same - we try to have roving conversations with God.  We are constantly moving from one thing to another, and we have a hard time hearing Him in the midst of all the activity and business that we are about. That is why I take quiet time every morning that I can, as this allows me to stop and listen and actually hear what the Lord is saying.

The understanding part of being good soil, actually requires a good teacher and a willing student.  If the teacher is not proficient the student will have difficulty understanding what is being taught.  If the student doesn't care and doesn't listen, it does not matter how proficient the teacher is, the student will not understand.  So in this case, my job is to be engaged in what I am being taught, listening actively, interested and paying attention, basically being willing.  It is the Holy Spirit who is my teacher, and He is extremely proficient and knows me intimately, so He understands exactly how I best learn and He knows what my level of willingness is at present.

So this morning I am encouraged.  The Holy Spirit is my teacher and He will remind me of everything the Lord has spoken to me and He will guide me towards understanding.  My job is to be willing, to hear and to apply myself to understanding.  If I can do that I am being good soil, and God will cause His seed planted in me to grow and be fruitful!  Amen!