The remarkable thing about soil is that it does not care what is planted. It will give as much effort to grow weeds as rice, soybeans, or corn. Dad’s seed supplier provided him with the ancestry of the seed and the confidence that the seed was not contaminated with weed seed. A bad batch of seed could cost you your farm.

Dad called it, “Getting the ground ready.” After harvest, we plowed our fields so the soil could absorb the winter rains. Dad wanted to capture as much moisture in the ground for the hot, dry summer that would come. I remember the cold, windy days driving the tractor up and down the field. It wasn’t fun but it had to be done.

Then in March the fields were alive with tractors pulling equipment to pulverize the soil. It was exciting. Everything moved faster. Nothing was allowed to distract getting the seed in the ground. Everyone knew something was going to happen…a new creation.

And finally, once the crop was planted, work shifted from preparing to managing. Now came the task of making sure your crop had the proper nourishment & water and removing weeds, pests, and other crop threats. Dad managed the field to maximize the harvest. It’s always about the Harvest, Always!

In Matthew 13:5-8, Jesus uses the Law of the Farm to illustrate the effects on the seed when it is planted in unprepared & prepared soil. “Some (seed) fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” It’s all about maximizing the harvest!

So, do you prepare your heart to receive Him? Do you intentionally prioritize time to open your heart to receive the rain of His Spirit? He promises us, “ I will give you a new heart and put a new Spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

Once our heart (soil) is open we must continue working the soil of our heart to receive the seed (His Word, Luke 8:11). Jesus told us that it is impossible to understand the scriptures without the Spirit God. “Then He (Jesus) said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:44-45) Just as on the farm, we had to plow over the same field several times to get it “just right” to receive the seed.

And finally, we come to the difficult and not so fun task of managing to field. Throughout the crop year, dad walked his fields. He walked through & around each field on a regular basis looking for threats. These plants were his little children. Occasionally he would stop and pull a leaf & examine it or take his pocked knife and dig down into the soil. Everything he did was intentional and when he found weeds… oh baby. If we were not able remove the weeds with our cultivators we removed them by hand. I remember we had long handled shafts with sharp hooks on the end. I remember those hot July days, walking the rows of 1,400 acres of bean chopping cockleburs. Why? It was all to maximize the harvest.

So, how are you doing managing your field…your heart. Are you careful of what is planted in your heart? Do you use the Bible to test the source of what gets planted in your heart? Do you intentionally limit your sources of influence?

Do you intentionally prepare your heart before receiving His Word? Do you ask the Holy Spirit to remove the stones, chunks & roots of your past and pulverize your heart to receive His Word?

And finally, are you on the lookout for the weeds that pop up in your life? The world is constantly sowing seeds of doubt, division, fear, anxiety, and discouragement. The Word of God is the “Sword” (Hebrews 4:12) to chop down the weeds of the world. But know this, you & I must get into the field, walk the rows, and do the hot & hard work. And when we do, we are promised The Harvest!

Jesus is coming. Are you ready?