TCIKOABD: The Importance of the SOIL (Your Heart)

As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants. ⁸ Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! Matt. 13:4-8

Have you ever had a mud pie?  I know blah....or yuck, or even gag me......but it's amazing how depending upon where this seed or seeds fell what type of crop or return the sower got. We are shown four types of places where these seeds were scattered.  One was the road or path,...where if we think about it today it would be the equivalent of scattering seeds on HWY 70.   The other was rocky places which would be that similar to these seeds being scattered over the the rocks at say, Klondike park.   The next place was among the thorns....so imagine a place over run with thorn bushes and weed and ask yourself is that where you would love to plant a peach tree.     Lastly, there is good soil, and if you know anything about farming.....the good soil is more than just dirt.  Dirt is what we made mud pies with. 

Good soil though is dirt and manure.   Now we will get into the depth and breadth of this manure thing another day, but we all have manure in our lives.  It's the mess, the sins of our past and present.  It's the DWI, it's the drug charges, it's the late child support payments, it's the divorce, it's the abuse, it's the crap of your life.   But see when it comes to growth the soil is what feeds the seed, and simply put people have been sowing into you life since the beginning of your life, and I want you to check your heart, or the soil of your heart....because I want you to ask yourself why are you where you are?   Is your heart as hard as HWY to the things of God?  Or is there soil there, but rocks and boulders of your past are covering the soil so you see some attempts to do right but they never last for a long period of time.  Is your heart like the thorns, do you get the message, like the message, but because you are a worry wart........your growing in the faith is constantly being choked out.  Or does your heart represent the good soil....where you are transparent with your past and allow the SEED to feed off of manure of your life and bring forth fruit.

As I said we'll get into the soil breakdown in the next few days.....but before we do so, before you leave the house today for work......ask GOD to do a work in your heart.  That whichever soil you know to be the make up of your heart........pray and ask GOD to break your heart for what breaks his.  Ask that GOD will make you an answer to _______________________________(you fill in the blank).  LGLP

Here's a song to help you worship from where you are: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbAOujRu7l4