Preparing the Soil

For many people, summer means time spent in the garden.

Nature’s provisions brighten dining room tables and promote good health in those blessed to eat and enjoy. Jesus used gardening and farming to describe the work of the kingdom of God and the process of growth in the grace of God.

He likened the Word of God to seed.

He equated the maturing of a Christian believer with the ripening of grain, and He compared His return to earth to gather His saints with an agricultural harvest. Witnessing and soul winning are much like the process of gardening or farming. Jesus said, “Behold, a sower went forth to sow” (Matthew 13:3).

He explained that “the seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11). The sower sowed the Word of God in anticipation of realizing a harvest of those who would “bear fruit with patience” (verse 15). A vital part of gardening is soil preparation.

Instead of picking and eating beans or tomatoes, the gardener may end up with nothing simply because the soil had not been prepared.

Soil that is too rocky, too sandy, lacks nutrients, or does not drain well can be impossible to successfully work. One reason more souls are not won to faith in Christ is that spiritual harvesting often takes place where there has been little or no soil preparation. Few gardeners would plant seeds in unprepared soil and expect a harvest. But churches and church members frequently expect to harvest where there has been no work done to prepare the soil. Time spent in a community “building the soil” before planting takes place is time well spent. Developing friendships makes it more likely that the seed of the Word of God will take root. Acceptance of Bible studies or an invitation to church or a church program is much more likely when preparation has taken place beforehand. As important as it is in agriculture, soil preparation is even more important in evangelism. Prepared soil is far more likely to be fruitful soil.