Soils

Jesus often spoke to His listeners in the form of a parable. A parable is a story of something real in life or the culture that people can relate to easily, that makes a moral or spiritual point. One such lesson is a parable about soils. Although the culture of Jesus' time was more metropolitan than we usually assume, farming, of course was a large part of life and easily understood. 

So Jesus told of a man who went out and began to sow seed and as he did, it was scattered over a wide area. It went in many directions and landed in various places on soils in four different conditions.

One type of soil where the seed landed, was beside the road, where it as trampled on by passers-by, and birds also came and ate it up. Others landed on hard, rocky ground that produced some crop, but as soon as it began to grow it withered for lack of moisture and depth. Other seed landed among thorns and weeds that grew up with it and soon choked out the good growth as it came up. But some seed landed on good soil, and soon yielded a crop one hundred times over.

Isn't the teaching of Jesus beautiful and profound in its simplicity?  Yet like us His followers had a hard time understanding the meaning He wanted to convey. So He explained it for us.

The seed that was sown in every direction is the word of God. The various type of soil on which it lands are the hearts of people in their various conditions. Some hear the message, but Satan comes like the birds, and removes it from their hearts and their thinking.  Others hear and joyfully respond, but in times of temptations or difficulties, like the rocks in a garden, they are not rooted enough to maintain, and so fall away.  Yet others are those who allow cares and worries or pleasures and riches to be their main focus and so the word gets choked out of their lives like a blossoming garden that is left unattended and weeds take over.

The last group however, are those who hear God's word in an honest and sincere heart. It is a heart that realizes all that God has done to insure that our sins can be forgiven. The word of God concerning faith in Jesus takes root creating new life, which in turn brings a new lifestyle.  This group is like the good soil in this parable of Jesus that produces the good crop of godliness, or what the Bible calls, the fruit of the Spirit.

I wonder, as you read today, which type of soil are you? Something to reflect on, and to think about today.

Psalm 25:1 The Lifted Soul

David the psalmist writes these words, "To You O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You."  There were times in Davids life when he cried out to God for divine intervention when he felt that his own strength had failed him.  He accomplished great things in his time, but also really failed with serious consequences.  He was a human being with human tendencies like ours, with all the responses we can relate to.  The emotions we read in his psalms mirror ours in may ways.  We see his anger, sorrow, boldness, deep pleas for vengeance upon his enemies, joy, deep worship and prayerful communion with God.

But in all of his life experiences one thing is consistent and that is his heart was directed toward God.  He was far from perfect, yet in spite of failure he knew what it was to come to God for help when life became to much.  He knew that by faith, he could approach God with every sorrow, or when he found himself tangled up in his own sins and wrong doings.  That is why the verse we have today is so significant, because it shows us that David, so far from perfect, knew that God was a safe haven for him, a strong shelter who would show deep mercy and restoration of his broken soul. 

"To You O Lord I lift up my soul. O my God I trust in You."  What do you do when life becomes to much? When you find yourself overwhelmed with it all, where do you turn? Some people are overcome with despair. Others give up and allow themselves to indulge in alcohol or some other avenue of escape or imagined relief. These choices only add to the heaviness of heart and make matters worse. 

"To You O Lord I lift up my soul. O my God I trust in You."  God has sent His son Jesus into this world, that we might have life in His name.  He stands ready to hear your weakest cry for help and pour out His gracious gift of salvation and mercy.  He can unravel life's most complicated issues that may be weighing you down with grief and anxiety, remorse or shame.  If we find ourselves in the pit of despairing thoughts and emotions, through Jesus we can draw near to God and lift up our soul, to Him, and recover the strength to go forward.