I was not and am not fertile soil. Fertile Soil requires maintenance. It requires hard work. Fertile soil requires tilling the land, fertilization, pouring nutrients into the soil. All of these “requirements” for fertile soil were not evident in my life. I never tilled the land after believing in Christ. I just thought it was enough to believe and have no evidence in my life of fruit for a harvest.
In Matthew 13:1-9, Christ paints a picture of a gardener tossing seed. The seed lands on the road, some in stony places, and in thorny patches; yet some seed roots itself in fertile ground. In Matthew 13:18-23, Christ describes what each of the soils represents. For example in verse 19, the seed falls on the path, and birds come to eat it. Jesus explains that this is like people who hear the Gospel and do not understand its meaning. The enemy then can tempt them back into their old lifestyle.
For years I, like many Christians, was naïve and assumed that I must be the fertile soil. I went through all the motions of a “good” Christian: going to church on Sundays, praying before my meals and obeying the 10 Commandments. But I did not work at cultivating the ground. There was no evidence of the transformational power of Christ Jesus in my life.
We all assume that we are fertile soil. That is exactly what the world wants us to think and what we convince ourselves to think, because when we realize that we are not the fertile soil, things have to change. The only way that we can possibly become the soil through which God can cultivate a harvest is through the work of Christ who gave up his life for us on the Cross.
We need to realize that by ourselves we are nothing more than empty, broken human beings seeking to idolize something,… anything for that matter! Lucky for us, the hard work is done. Christ already paid your price. The Spirit is trying to transform your heart into fertile soil.
But how do we enable the Spirit to do this in our lives?
If we are going to let the Spirit transform us, we must do the one thing that is against every instinct inside of our prideful selves: surrender. Surrender everything to Christ. He wants all our fears, anxieties, hopes, dreams, desires, families, friends and comforts. Christ requires surrendering everything because He gave up everything for you. So do not assume you are the fertile soil because most likely, you probably are not. Let us surrender our lives together in pursuit of the fertile soil so that we may reap a harvest for the Lord.
Your brother in Christ,
Nathan Meeuwenberg
milliganstampede
