Hosanna Restoration Church

It does not matter how good a seed might be, it is going to be directly affected by the ground it is planted in. This is why good farmers take such care in their soil preparation. They know that the better the soil is the better the harvest will be. Good seed will produce, but only in proportion to the quality of the soil. The bottom line is, the better the soil the better the harvest.

Of course this not an agricultural forum, this is a picture of the explanation Jesus provided concerning the seed scattered in the parable of the sower. There is no difference in the seed. All the seeds are good that God scatters, it is the soil that determines what is produced. God has given us the choice as to what sort of soil His seeds will fall on. We are in control of the harvest from beginning to end! No one can say that God has one sort of seed for one and another seed for another; the seeds are all the same and they are the very best. They are tested and have a proven track record of great results.

At this point, someone might try to argue that some people just do not have good soil. This is true, but it is not because they could not have good soil, it is because they have chosen to place rocks in some places, and refused to loosen the soil in other places and have let weeds grow up in others. All of these things keep the good seed from producing. For some this has occurred due to deception or a lack of understanding and for others it has been a calculated choice. The good news is that we can get understanding and we can change our minds!

On a daily basis, we can choose to be soil that is prepared for the Good News of the Gospel. Jesus told the Disciples that He taught everyone else in parables because they would be looking without seeing and listening without hearing. He was not trying to keep them from the truth, rather He was pointing out that often times people will look into the gospel and not see anything they want and they will listen on occasion but not hear what they want to hear. The stories provided clear opportunities to know the truth. If they really looked or listened they would turn to God. They would be asking to know more. They would be soil ready to produce a harvest.

Just as a farmer can choose to do what is necessary to prepare his fields for planting, we can choose to prepare our spiritual fields. That may require removing rocks and hard places. It may require gathering up seeds that we just left lay around, or transplanting some things we let shrivel. It may require chopping down and pulling out weeds that we have been cultivating. Truly, all of this can be accomplished with a decision to be good ground, hungry for good seed. The Good News is an effective rock picker, excavator, and weed eater! We can be quickly transformed simply by renewing our minds and taking responsibility for the part we play in producing a harvest.

We are the soil. The Good News is the seed. The seed is all good. The soil is the producer. What kind of soil will we be? We should declare that our soil is ready for every seed of the Gospel and we will strive to produce the maximum potential of each and every seed.