What kind of soil am I?

In Mark 4 we read the parable of The Sower sowing seed with different results, depending on what kind of soil the seed falls into.  Hmm... or... should this parable actually be named the parable of the different soils?  I believe the Holy Spirit put this parable on my table in the last couple of weeks in a whole new manner than before.  I share my thoughts with you:

1. This parable is about a sower sowing good, fertile seed.  There is nothing in this parable that indicates that the seed was mixed or contaminated with weeds in any way.  Thus the seed was not the problem - the same good seed was sown on all the different types of soil.  (There are other parables that deal with mixed seed, but this is not the context of this parable.)
2. The soil, or rather the different conditions the soil was in, determined the harvest - or lack thereof. Four kinds of soil are mentioned:
   

• Some of the seed were sown in the soil beside the road.  The soil was so hard that it did not even allow the seed inside to give it a chance to germinate, it left it exposed so that the birds came to eat it.  The soil was therefore robbed of the seed without ever fully receiving it.
  
• Then there is the soil that is full of rocks and not very deep.  It received the seed and they germinated, but the plants could not develop deep roots because when affliction and persecution occurred, the sun scorched it away and it withered and died. 
• Some seed were sown amongst the thorns.  The seed germinated and started to grow as it was initially received with joy, but the worries of the world, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things choked the young plants, so that it never grew into maturity to yield a harvest. It became unfruitful. I think this one was the greatest revelation to me.  I am not sure that I saw this clearly before.  It's not a matter of not receiving the seed - it's just that the cares of everyday life, and the temptations of earthly rewards choke the plants to such an extent that it does not bear fruit - there is no harvest. It becomes unfruitful.  I wonder if this is not the one that we mostly face in our circumstances today?  
  
• Finally some of the seed were sown into deep soil. The soil 'heard' the seed and accepted it, nurtured it and eventually it had a return on investment of 30, 60 and a 100-fold harvest!

The condition of the four kinds of soil really describes four kinds of conditions our hearts can be in when The Sower sows His Seed.  The Sower sows indiscriminately on all the soil - it depends entirely on the soil whether the seed is received and in what manner it is received.  Our hearts are the soil on which the seed is sown.  

This is probably not a new truth to many of us - yet it is an essential truth for our walk with Christ, and an essential question to ask in the weeks to come as we are moving towards the Feast of Pentecost.  At the Feast of Pentecost we remember anew that the Holy Spirit was poured out on us as human beings like never before in history.  Perhaps it is a good time to reflect on what kind of soil our hearts are, to receive The Seed that The Sower is still sowing 2000 years later?  Perhaps it is a good time for us to make sure that we yield our hearts to the plow of God that undoubtedly comes before The Sower comes to sow.  Perhaps it is a good time to declare our willingness to yield the ground of our hearts to the Holy Spirit to plow up our fallow ground as Hosea 10:12 encourages us to do:

Sow for yourselves, with a view to righteousness;
Harvest in accordance with kindness.
Break up your uncultivated ground,
For it is time to seek the Lord
Until He comes and rains righteousness on you. 

What is the condition of the soil of your heart?  Is it ready to receive the Holy Spirit anew at Pentecost?  

May we be prepared to yield the soil of our hearts to the plow of the Holy Spirit in preparation to receive The Seed from The Sower's hand.   

The Sower's Song

 Andrew Petersen