Preparing and Maintaining the Soil

Today’s Passages –Mark 4 – 5; Proverbs 18

(Second Milers also read – Psalms 86 – 90; Memorize Daniel 12:3)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 92:1

Read “The Habits of Fruitful Soulwinners” by Dr. Paul Chappell.

Read last year’s post from this passage – “Go Home and Tell Them”

“And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.” – (Mark 4:5-7)

I have always been fascinated by the accuracy of the Scripture. This parable of the sower is a perfect representative of the realities involved when dealing with people in their relationship to God. This story told and explained by the Lord Jesus speaks of four different types of soil, which is representative of four different groups of people. The first type of soil mentioned is hard ground that does not receive the seed, and eventually the seed that is sown upon it is gobbled up by birds. This soil type is representative of the hard-hearted person who will not allow God’s Word to enter into his heart. The last type of soil is the best case scenario, which represents a person who receives the Word of God by first trusting Christ as His Saviour; and then he goes on to produce much fruit in his life.

My focus this morning is on the two types of soil in the middle: the stony ground, and the ground with thorns. These two types of soil represent people who start out well, but eventually fizzle out spiritually. The “stony ground” Christian never lets the Word of God take route in his life. Consider what the Apostle Paul told the church at Colosse:

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” – (Colossians 2:6-7)

If a Christian is going to continue growing and eventually begin producing fruit in his life, he must get “rooted” in the Word of God. This is why our church strongly recommends our discipleship program. Through discipleship the new believer gets a good foundation, and enough strength to help  withstand the lure of the world, the tests of the flesh, and the early attacks of the devil. If the new believer is going to survive, he must get in the Word of God.

That brings us to the third type of soil – the soil that is choked with thorns. The thorns represent all of the distractions that can keep the Christian away from the Spiritual nourishment he needs to keep producing fruit in his life. By the way, this can happen to the Christian who, as a new believer, has removed the stones from his soil and has been “rooted” in the Word of God. Thorns have a way of growing up all around us; and if we are not careful we will allow a bunch of things (sometimes even good things) to creep into our lives that will pull us away from God. We need to keep our focus.

In order for us to finish our course and remain fruitful in our lives we must get grounded in the Word; and then we must maintain our walk with the Lord. Anything that pulls us out of the will of God will hinder our ability to produce fruit. We are here to produce fruit.