A few weeks ago in our Good Dirt devotions we read the Parable of the Sower, the passage that inspired the title of the book. We had just finished dinner on our back patio, enjoying a warm summer evening together.
Per usual, the children’s attention was wandering, so we did a spontaneous outside activity. We have citrus trees in our backyard, so I had the kids run and grab a piece of fruit. Then I asked them to open up the fruit and grab four seeds each.
The Parable of the Sower describes four soils: the path, the rocks, the thorns and the good dirt. Armed with their four seeds, I sent them off to find each of the different surfaces and see what happened when they tried to plant them.
The path was easiest to find, as the kids threw the seed down on the concrete patio. Next was the rocks, which was mix of wood chips and a few large stones. Then came the thorns--we have rose bushes and blackberries, but that didn’t seem to fit the story. So we decided to plant the seeds among the weeds (those were easy to find in my backyard).
Lastly, the good dirt. The children found a soft, loamy section of ground and buried their mandarin seeds there.
In our little exercise, the children were able to see the simplicity of the message. Which one of these seeds is more likely to grow? Clearly. the one in the good dirt. It is soft, able to receive both the seed and the water and sun required to nourish it. The path, however, is hardened against the outside world and cannot receive.
May our hearts be like the good dirt, able to receive the Word and be changed by it.