Good Soil

Read Matthew 13:1-9

Where is the good soil?  

Men and women gathered around Jesus in search of life and healing and good news around which to center their lives.  So many, in fact, that Jesus had to sit in a boat away from shore so that all could hear what he had to say.  They were the good soil.

They longed to be made free from all that troubled them.  The people and empires that used them up as if they were expendable, scattered resources that anyone coming along was free to use.  They longed to be made free from the quick fixes and the instant gratification ideas that made them feel pretty good for a few moments, but then were gone as another passing fad at the first sign of trouble.  They hoped for a freedom that could not be threatened by enemies, or stolen away, or destroyed.  The good soil gathered around Jesus so that He could plant a word of peace within them.  A word of peace that could grow into a mighty people.

Jesus planted a word in that good soil.  That good soil has grown and grown, and grown and grown into a mighty harvest.  For two thousand years that soil has been bearing fruit and the reason I am even able to write these words today is because of that good soil.

Live as that good soil and be at peace!