Matthew 13:3-9 NLT
“Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. 4 As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. 5 Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants. 8 Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! 9 Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
Since my dad and brother have both gone on to heaven, I am left to take care of the family. I have no regrets about my relationship with dad or Keith, we were all close and all of us knew the other would always be here for each other as long as we were able. What I do regret though is not spending more time in recent years working side by side with dad and Keith. I grew up on a farm so we were always planting and harvesting. But the one thing I really didn’t do much of is the preparation of the soil. Dad always took care of plowing and making sure the land was ready and at its best to produce a good crop.
I have some great friends and neighbors who are helping me to know when to do certain things and the first order of business is to turn the soil over and allow it to sit through the Fall and Winter.
Spading or tilling the soil in the fall allows for the winter conditions of freezing and thawing to naturally break the soil into its particles. This results in crumbly state desirable for spring planting.
Soil is often damp or wet in the spring which makes deep spading more difficult. Tilling soil in the spring that is too wet will makes clods. Clods are extremely difficult to break down into that crumb state ideal for planting. Wet soil tilled in the fall will still break apart over the winter leaving a nice texture for planting. As a rule of thumb, soil should never be worked while it is wet as it does destroy some of the physical properties.
There is so much more that goes into reaping a harvest than just planting and reaping. There is the preparation of the soil. This is also true when it comes to the human soul. Jesus gave us so many examples to help us understand and I am now understanding better and better the work that has to be done to reap a harvest in the human soul by working with the soil.
Ronnie