A Lenten Devotion: The Parable of the Soil (February 21, 2015)

A Lenten Devotion:  The Parable of the Soil

Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23

February 21, 2015

On this first Saturday in Lent, I was reading from the “Parables of Lent” that many of us are using as a Devotional Guide this year during Lent.  Today’s reading is commonly known as the “Parable of the Sower.”  I think of it today, however, as a Parable of the Soil.  Even though you many know this parable quite well, I invite you to take a few moments to read it again—maybe even to read it out loud—and listen for fresh insights that God may have for you today.

We all know the punch line to this parable:  “as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”  (Matthew 13:23).  It occurred to me, however, that the good soil did not choose to be good any more than the rocky soil chose to be rocky or than the soil hardened into a pathway chose to be walked upon.  Is the soil responsible for its own condition?

It’s worth pointing out here that Jesus told parables to explain aspects of the Kingdom.  There is a danger in trying to extend any parable beyond the specific point that Jesus was making. 

In the case of the Parable of the Soil, it would be a mistake to conclude that because I find myself hardened by life, I bear no responsibility for tending my own soul.  I should point out quickly that it would be just as much a mistake to claim credit for finding that you are good soil—but that is a lesson for another day.

I suspect that we find elements of all four types of soil in ourselves.  We have our areas in which life has walked on us, and we feel hardened.  We have rocky areas in our lives.  The soil of our lives is mixed with areas that cannot be penetrated.  We have our thorns—weeds that try to choke out the life within us.  But we have good soil too—placed within us because we are children of God.

The season of Lent gives us an opportunity to tend to the soil of our lives.  We are given the tasks of plowing, hoeing, cultivating, fertilizing, watering and weeding our own souls.  We do this by listening for the Word of God, receiving that Word into our lives, and yielding ourselves to the transforming work of God.

What kind of soil are you?  That is the wrong question; because we are all types of soil.  The better question is this:  what steps are you taking to cultivate the soil of your life? 

Pray:  Create in me a clean heart, O God.