How to swap out the soil of our hearts

“It’s all about soil.”

I spoke this across the room to Jeff, out of the blue, while in the middle of reading Red Fish, Blue Fish to Justice. He looked at me, completely lost.

“That’s it. Same external environment, same seeds, same treatment, same timeframe. One pea planting is 3-feet high and one is 3-inches. It’s all about soil.”

Of course he knew I wasn’t talking about plants, per se, but the observation was certainly true on that level. We re-filled all our planter boxes with premium garden soil this year, and the growth is incredible, compared with the rest of the garden. Just yesterday our housemate observed, “You’ve never had this kind of success!”

It’s true, I said. We swapped out the soil.

The deeper level comment was in response to a question I’d been wrestling with: Why, under the same circumstances, do some people seem to grow and thrive and bear ongoing fruit and others don’t?

Of course, I’m including “seem to” because we can’t truly determine what growth is happening deep down, inside. But we can certainly observe fruit! We’re told to!

Jesus sheds light on this dilemma, I think, when He talks about soil. Just as I observed in my garden, Jesus clearly says that the key, in whether the seed of the gospel bears fruit manifold or not, simply comes down to soil.

“And some [seed] fell into good soil and it grew and yielded fruit a hundredfold.”

Luke 8:8

So then the question is: What is good soil and how do we get it?

It seems to be two-fold. In Luke 8:15 Jesus says, “As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”

Good soil: Honest and good heart. Patience.

But in Matthew 13:23 Jesus says, “But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it.”

Good soil: Hearing God’s Word and understanding it.

Which is it? Yes.

As much as I’d like to blame external circumstances, the condition of my heart is the variable that determines the fruitfulness of my life.

And while that can feel defeating, as if I’m doomed to a life of stunted growth because of my bad soil, the opposite is too. Just as we were able to switch out the soil in our planter boxes, you can swap out the soil of your heart.

Our new soil cost us $114 and a good hour of shoveling (ok, Dutch & Jeff did all the shoveling). New soil in our hearts is going to take a much bigger investment, but friends: Nothing else matters more. Using Jesus words, we could safely say the swap out entails:

1. Pursuing honesty and integrity, before God and others.
2. Accepting difficulty and delays with patience.
3. Regularly receiving the Word of God and working to understand it.

There are other aspects to the parable, of course. The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke out the seed. Shallowness makes the seed spring up quickly with enthusiasm, then die in the face of difficulty. Lack of understanding allows the enemy to snatch away the seed before it has a chance to bear fruit.

But really, it’s all about the soil.

What we desperately need, what I desperately need, is to do the work of swapping out the soil of my heart by continually pursuing those three things. We don’t have control over our circumstances. We might be “free” but we are most certainly not in control. We don’t get to choose what plague or persecution will face us in our lifetime, but we do get to choose whether or not we will make the priority of pursuing good soil in our hearts, so that God can bear fruit a hundred-fold in our lives no matter what harsh environment comes our way.

{Thank you for reading.}