Tag: soil

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Make me good soil

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Alicia Christin Gerald on Unsplash

“But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold” (Mark 4:20).

Every time I read or hear Jesus’s parable of the sower (or the soils, as some call it), I stop to pray, “Lord, let me be good soil!” I know that on any given day, I could be like the path, the rocky ground, or all be overwhelmed by thorns.

Sometimes I’m not paying attention. In one ear and out the other. Other times it just doesn’t sink in. I can’t figure out how it applies. Still other times I’ve got a million things on my mind, and there doesn’t seem to be much room for spiritual truths. Or, I’m all ears, and I learn something new and useful.

I’d rather be the last on that list. Jesus promises, “Pay attention to what you hear…For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away” (4:24,25). Some of that is on me. If I get rid of distractions, I can, of course, focus much better. But I can always ask God for help, too. I can ask for knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. I can ask to learn something new. I can pray that he would direct my steps according to his word. I can ask that I would be good soil!

Posted in bible

Mystery: a bag of dirt?

Posted on by William Douthwaite

“So, what’s with the bag of dirt?”

I answered, “What are you talking about?”

My son went on, “The little bag of dirt in the front cover of the Bible.”

Forty years ago my mom gave my wife and I a super-sized King James family Bible as a wedding gift. I was never quite sure what to do with it. She did write in some important family tree information that we didn’t have anywhere rose. But it went unused until Good Friday came along and I needed a hefty volume to slam in the darkness, reminding us of the closing of the tomb after Jesus died and was buried.

When I retired, I gave the Bible to my son, also a pastor. After dozens of slams, it was showing its age. But it still made the congregation jump as he slammed it against the pulpit.

But while getting ready for Holy Week, he found a small sandwich bag containing a couple tablespoons of dirt. You would think it would have flown out during one of many slams. It doesn’t appear to be anyone’s remains. No one in our family has been cremated (including pets).

Mom’s been gone nineteen years now. Dad died five years ago. So we can’t ask them. All we can do is guess where it came from.

I had a little brother who died when I was only a year old. Could it be soil from his burial plot? What about dirt from one of the places where we lived? A memento from one of dad’s gardens?

We could send it off to a lab that can tell where it came from. For now, it’s a mystery.