Good Soil?
I love what Francis Chan says about the parable of the sower in today’s reading (Matthew 13). In his book, he asks the question: Are you sure you’re the seed in good soil?
Every Christian reads the parable assuming they’re the good soil, and everyone else is the bad soil, but (Chan asks), are you sure?
One issue is that of time. I think we assume that the whole process of what happens with the seed and the soil is immediate, but says who? Maybe the process Jesus talks about in verses 6 and 7 takes years. Maybe you or I are in the middle of it? And, if so, what should we do about that??
The other issue is the crop. Jesus says that the seed which landed in good soil produced a huge return. So if you’re trying to figure out if you’re the good soil, I guess the way to do it is by looking at your crops. Have you and I produced 30, 60, or 100 times? If not, that’s not a god sign, and what should we do about that??