It’s been many years, but I still remember the twinkle in my dad’s eyes this time of year. “It’s Plantin’ Time!” The cold of winter was over…spring brought purpose. Spring brought new life. All that life-purpose took place in the field. My dad loved working (preparing for planting) the soil. He loved the smell when it was freshly prepared and ready to plant.

He taught me a few facts about “Working The Soil.”

Fact 1: The Soil Will Grow What’s Planted. The soil could care less what seed gets planted. It will work just as hard raising up weeds as it will rice or soybeans. 

Fact 2: Weeds Are Free, Natural & Everywhere. We didn’t have to plant weeds, the seed was in the ground, in the air and carried by the birds.

Fact 3: The Soil Must Be Managed. If the soil isn’t managed the field will be overrun with weeds and the farmer will go broke.

Fact 4: The Condition of The Soil Unlocks The Potential. Weeds will grow anywhere but rice & soybeans have a certain pH (acid/alkaline) balance where they will prosper. The good farmer knows & manages the condition & pH balance of the soil.

Fact 5: Germination is a miracle. Take a dead seed, put it in the soil, warm the soil by the sun, with the right amount of moisture (rain), & the right nutrients of the soil… BAM, new life will bust through the ground in a few days.

This God-designed process is like our lives.

Fact 1: Our Heart (soil) Will Grow What Is Planted. Proverbs 23:7, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Simply put, we become what we think about.

Fact 2: The Seeds of The World Are Free, Natural & Everywhere. This time of the year we complain about the pollen in the air, but when you think about it, the seeds of hate, division, doubt, temptation, hopelessness are everywhere you go. Ephesians 2:2, “the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.”

Fact 3: Our Heart (Soil) Must Be Managed. Like the farmer, who goes into the field caring for his crop daily, we as Believers must tend our heart with daily prayers of thanksgiving, repentance and seeking His guidance. Proverbs 24:32-34 tells us what happens when we fail to manage…to do the work, “I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.”

Fact 4: The Condition of The Heart Unlocks The Potential. One of the greatest examples of lost potential is found in Exodus. God kept His Promise He made to Abraham hundreds of years before to “Redeem” His people from slavery. But they chose to not trust God and chose to grumble, divide, compare and live unforgiven lives. As a result, because of their self-centered hearts, that generation never went to the Promise Land.

Fact 5: The Seed-Of-Hope Is A Miracle. Just like the farmer, we (Believers) don’t save anyone, that is a God-Only-Thing. The Good News, the Seed of Hope (Jesus) was planted in the ground and three days later He arose. “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10. Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council came in the night searching for the Miracle and the thief on the cross discovered it just before he died…both accepted & trusted who Jesus was when He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 

                                                   Is your field ready?