What Kind of Dirt/Soil Are You? - NCCG.ORG Ning Network Archive 2008-10

WHAT KIND OF DIRT ARE YOU?
by Linda Sue Pochodzay Edwards

"I want to help!"

"Me, too! Me, too!"

"Can I? Please?"

The children gathered around excitedly as Mother took the seed
packets out of the shopping bag.

"I want the carrots."

"Then give me the pumpkins."

"But I don't want to plant onions. Yuck!"

With a laugh, Mother divided the seeds among the children.
"This year, each of you will have your own garden. You will get
to choose where you want to plant your seeds, and you will be
responsible for weeding and watering your own plot. So before you
get started, you need to go outside and search carefully for the
perfect spot."

With that, the children went outside. They looked around the
front yard and the backyard. They considered things like where
the sun would come up in the morning and how far the water hose
would reach. Each child chose the perfect place for planting a
garden.

Jerry took great care to dig the soil properly. He removed
all the weeds and rocks he found and read the back of the package
to make sure the seeds were planted deep enough. He faithfully
tended his garden all summer long. On the hottest days, when the
others didn't want to work in their gardens, he could be found
working diligently outside.

Sally started off right. She also made sure her garden was
planted in good soil and removed the weeds and rocks. However, as
time went on, she lost interest in her plants. Other things
became more important to her. Instead of working in the garden on
those hot summer days, she preferred to spend her time talking on
the telephone to her friends. It didn't take long for weeds to
grow up and take over her garden. Soon it became difficult to
tell exactly which were weeds and which were the plants.

Billy didn't think he needed to go to all the trouble. He
didn't realize how important it was to have good soil. He didn't
want to dig deep because the rocks were in the way, and it was
hard to dig them out. So he just left them there and tried
planting his seeds around the rocks.

Then there was Jill. She took her seeds and just scattered
them around on the top of the ground. She quickly lost interest
and didn't bother to even try to take care of her garden the rest
of the summer.

Now take a few minutes to think about what kind of harvest
each of the children was able to get from his garden when summer
was over and it was time to pick the ripe vegetables.

If you guessed that Jerry had a good harvest, you are
absolutely right. He had plenty of vegetables. In fact, he was
able to set up a table in front of his house and sell some to the
neighbors.

Sally had some good vegetables, but most of them were small
because the weeds grew up and took the nutrition out of the
ground. She wasn't able to sell any of her vegetables because
people were buying Jerry's.

Billy didn't have much to pick. His plants had a little soil
around them, and at first they looked like they were going to
grow, but when the really hot days came, the poor plants just
couldn't live. They wilted and died.

Unfortunately, Jill didn't have any plants by the end of the
summer. Remember how she scattered her seeds on the top of the
ground? Well, the birds came along and had themselves quite a
good lunch. They didn't leave any seeds to grow into plants.

--------------------

Yah'shua told a story, called a parable, about four kinds of
soil. A farmer went out to his fields to plant seeds. Some of the
seeds fell on top of the ground, and the birds came along and ate
them up. Some of the seeds grew in the rocky soil, and they
sprouted up quickly but died in the heat of the sun. Some of the
seeds tried to grow where there were weeds, and, of course, they
didn't grow very well. Then there were some seeds that fell in
the good soil, and they grew strong and tall, and there was a lot
of grain that came from them.

Yah'shua told what the parable means. He said that the
different types of soil are like different types of people, and
the seed is like the Bible or the Word of Yahweh.

When some people hear the Word of Yahweh, they don't even try
to listen or understand. The devil takes the Word of Yahweh away
from them and makes them forget, just like the birds ate the seed
that fell on the top of the ground.

Some people are like the rocky soil. They hear the Word of
Yahweh and want to do right, but they soon give up.

Other people want to listen to the Word of Yahweh, and they try
to remember to obey the Bible and do the right things, but other
things are more interesting to them. Like weeds growing in the
garden, they have too many other activities to take their time.
So, they learn a little about Yahweh and His Word, but they don't
grow very strong.

Then there are the people who are like the good soil. They
hear Yahweh's Word, and they work hard to understand it. They want
to obey Yahweh, and they keep on trying to learn more so they can
grow strong enough to tell other people all about Him.

--------------------

THINK!

What kind of dirt are you?
What kind of dirt do you want to be?
What would you need to do to become good dirt?

--------------------

BIBLE MEMORY VERSE

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord
and Savior Yah'shua the Messiah" (2 Peter 3:18).

LET'S PRAY

****************************************************
Dear Yahweh, I thank You for giving us the Bible.
Please help me to learn more about You by reading
and listening to Your Word. I want to grow to be
strong so I can help other people learn to love You.
In Yah'shua ' Name. Amen.
****************************************************

CAN YOU FIND THIS STORY IN THE BIBLE?
Matthew 13:3-8; 18-23

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