Jesus lived His life among the poor, the rich, the religious, the wounded, and the wild. He walked from town to town bringing the Good News of the Kingdom into the hearts of hearing people. To him who has an ear . . . let him hear. .
Those Jesus stories are some of my favorites and I especially love the ones where I read him interact with women. I learn and gain an understanding about was important to him – teaching people about the Kingdom of God and how to enter into it. How to love others and do life here on earth - his way - not mine.
In Matthew chapter 13, Jesus tells His disciples eight parables about the Kingdom of God. The first story in this chapter is about a farmer who walks about sowing seed into the soil. Jesus explains to His disciples that the seed is the Good News of the Kingdom. Jesus continues to explain that the seed is sown into four kinds of soil – each representing a kind of heart response.
The first soil represents people who hear the Good News about the Kingdom and just don’t understand it. They don’t “get it.” Nothing.
The second soil represents people who receive the Good News with joy but persecution or problems cause their little bitsy plants to wilt.
The third soil represents people who hear and accept the Good News, but the cares of life and the lure of wealth crowd out the message, so no crop is produced.
The fourth soil represents people whose heart are open and they accept God’s message of hope, abundant life, and they want to know how to follow Jesus by denying themselves and picking up their cross and doing life and relationships His way – not their. The people represented here produce a huge harvest. They have much fruit in their lives. They are disciple-making disciples.
Jesus tells seven more stories in this chapter which all illustrate what the Kingdom of God is about. What soil are you?
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