I have a very limited background in agriculture.
All of this came to mind as I listened to the teaching this past weekend. The teaching was from Matthew 13, the parable about the farmer sowing seed. The question the message left you with was what is the make-up of your soil? I also wondered about the people I serve with, what is their soil composition?
I am sure this is a lesson you have heard before but all too often we overlook the basics. We look for teaching or ideas that are more exciting but this lesson is a fundamental reality - we need to be providing a soil where God can work. Look at John 15: 8 - This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Think about you personally. Think about your team. We would love to know what you are doing to ‘bear much fruit?"
What are you doing to enrich the soil so that fruit can be born through you or your team? Maybe you need to identify and engage a mentor. Maybe there is a particular area of your character that you need to develop.
What needs to be weeded out from your life so that fruit can be born? Are there people who know you well enough that there are no secrets? Do you have at least one person who has all access pass to your life? Your relational life? Your schedule? Your web life?
How deep are your roots? Are you rooted in prayer? God's Word? Are you a part of a weekly gathering even when you aren't serving? After many years in ministry, I am no longer surprised by artists who reveal that they only attend services when they are serving up front.
Good soil people, as my pastor referred to them, are Christ centered people. And their lives bear fruit and give God glory. Have you thought about what the fruit looks like? We can get so caught up things appearing beautiful or cool or creative that we aren't paying attention to our inner self or health of our team. I've bitten into a beautiful apple only to find it rotten on the inside. No amount of admiring the outside would convince me to eat the rotten fruit. It was spoiled - of no use.
I want my life to be described as Jesus told in Matthew 13:23, "the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."