4 Soils - Good Soil

The last soil is “good soil.” The seed penetrates the ground. It is received. Good soil means there are no rocks. The plants can sink their roots deep into the soil. It can draw on resources deep in the soil, untouched by the heat. ood soil means there are no thorns. So, there are no influences to draw the resources away from the plants. All resources can be concentrated in the growth of the plant. The end result is that the plants grow abundantly and thrive. They produce abundant fruit.

Does this mean that growing and producing fruit in living as a disciple of Jesus resolve down to a couple of basic things?

1. Learning to draw life from Jesus. We might call “life” in this sense emotional, psychological and spiritual wholeness. It is restrictions in this life hinder people from taking risks and making changes that could propel them to greater living.
2. Learning to focus on profitable areas that build a person’s heart. We cannot totally focus on spiritual things. Even monks need to maintain their bodies. People living “normally” have to focus on jobs, cooking and cleaning, paying bills. So, at least people need to minimize the effects of these legitimate distractions. Then, we need to eliminate or minimize other distractions. Some distractions could be lethally draining. All the addictions that people discuss nowadays. Other distractions could be acceptable (TV watching for example) by still suck up time and energy that could otherwise be spent more profitably.

This identifies the general what’s of growth and fruit producing. What about specific what’s? Can “playing hopscotch” enable us to tap into Jesus’ energy reserves? There are how questions too. Material for future posts?