The seed that falls on good soil

It is that time in the year when Jews celebrate the festival of ‘ingathering.’ This is a harvest celebration dating back thousands of years. At the same time, traditionally, the Christian church holds its own harvest thanksgiving services; a useful reminder that our food does not primarily come from supermarkets but rather the land and, ultimately, the gracious hand of God.

In his teaching, Jesus frequently made use of parables involving harvest, farming (both animal and arable), good and bad seeds, good and bad soil, wheat and weeds etc. The most familiar of these is probably the ‘parable of the sower’. Here, good seed is scattered on the ground where the majority apparently lands on unsuitable soil. Of course, the parable was not concerned with teaching about the difficulties of farming. It was about the word of God (likened to seed) taking root in the soil of men’s and women’s hearts. Some seed fell on the packed earth of the path and so failed completely to germinate. This equates to the heart that is indifferent to God. Some of the seed entered into shallow soil but, when the tender young shoots were subjected to the heat of the sun, they withered and died. This equates to the heart that lacks depth. Further seeds had a good start but hostile vegetation (in the form of weeds, thorns and thistles) strangle the life out of it. This equates to the heart that is weighed down by cares, temptations and distractions to the detriment of things that really matter.

We know that one needs to sow bountifully in order to reap a harvest. When God sows the seed of his word, although some soil is invariably poor, the scattered seed will produce a harvest because some will certainly fall on good soil. The resulting yield from this soil is pleasing to him.

What, in the context of this parable, should we understand by good soil? A farmer will plough up a field and dig in fertiliser, so preparing the ground. Then, when the seed goes in and the earth is watered, the farmer can expect strong, healthy plants to grow.

Christians will often tell of how they heard the message about Jesus and his call upon their lives, the time when God’s Word germinated in their hearts. With hindsight they may well be able to see how prior to that event, through circumstances both good and bad, God’s own ploughing and fertilising had been preparing the ground.

I don’t know what your circumstances are at this harvest time, but it may just be that God is behind the scenes doing some ploughing and manure spreading, so that you may be fruitful and included in his forthcoming harvest. The ultimate harvest of which Jesus so often spoke.

#parable #harvest