It’s always a great time when 10 high schoolers, 3 college students and a young adult gather in your living room. The sun was shining so we spent some time on the patio. We enjoyed a few tacos and then sat down for a little dirt talk. 

I know that sounds little less than appropriate but stick with me. As we gathered in the living room we had a quick discussion about the condition of our hearts and sometimes those hearts are, well less clean than others. But that wasn’t the point. The point was Matthew 13. This is a discussion better known as the parable of the sower.

The point is pretty simple. There are many different growing media in which plants grow. Some work better than others. Here’s the breakdown of the passage.

– Path. Some of our hearts are a lot like a path in a field. Trampled and packed down it’s hard for anything to sink in and we get stuck feeling a little worthless in life. This is a heart that is just beat down and abused by the world. It’s a heart that has been forced to do it alone. It’s a heart that is so hardened by life that good news doesn’t sound good anymore.

– Rocks. Others of us have hearts that are filled with rocks. The rocks keep the soil open and airy but they also prevent the soil from holding a lot of water. This means that things grow really well for a time then when trouble, intense heat, come the plant dies because there’s not enough nutrients to support it. The rocky heart is the heart that wants to believe. It wants to follow but there’s just something missing. There seem to be too many obstacles. Not enough time. Anxiety over challenges in life. These things take up so much room that they make it appear we don’t have room for Jesus.

– Weeds. If you’re a gardening person at all, you know weeds. And weeds seem to be able to grow anywhere. It’s the same in our lives. Weeds of doubt, fear and anxiety seem to choke our hearts sometimes and prevent the good stuff of God from sinking in.

– Good Dirt. This one is pretty self-explanatory. The good dirt is where the right stuff grows. IN our hearts the good soil is the stuff where love, forgiveness and grace fill the beds of our life. The fruit this soil produces is also known as the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

How does one go from one type of soil to another? That’s a challenge for many of us. Part of it is acknowledging with which soil type you best resonate. Then we find someone in whom we can confide who will help walk alongside us to help us find the rocks in our life, call out the weeds, and soften our hardened hearts to allow the seeds to embed and grow.

Perhaps you won’t have 13 of the most amazing young people in your living room anytime soon. Perhaps you won’t lead a short discussion on your favorite parable. But I’d encourage you to find someone who you can trust to walk with you and help you cultivate the right heart so the seeds of God’s grace and truth can grow in your words, thoughts and actions.