The Good Soil/Tierra Buena
The song I’m releasing this month, “Tierra Buena (Good Soil),” is retelling the Parable of the Sower in song form. This parable has always been one of my favorites in the Bible. I love it and it’s spoken to me different ways in different times over the years.
Sometimes, I’ve been the sowersowing seeds everywhere, spreading the good news of the Kingdom and Jesus’ love to everyone, watching the reactions as the seeds fell, and seeing the different after-effects of those seeds in people’s lives.
Other times, I‘ve felt like the seed in each of the different categories: sometimes falling by the wayside and being eaten up by the birds; other times falling on the hard rock, and while excited & enthusiastic for a while, then drying up and losing my enthusiasm sometime later.
Other times, the seed that falls amongst the thornsand is choked by the cares of this world, what the Bible calls “the cares of this century, this age,” which is amazingly applicable nowadays with all that’s going on in modern society all so quickly and easily accessible via the internet. These days it’s easier than ever to get entangled and choked by all the trendy thoughts and beliefs, as well as by the deceitfulness of riches, the false dream that things or money are going to make us happy; or even that fight for survival to pay the bills, or the trap of unhealthy personal desires, all of which result in these good seeds being choked out.
Happily at other times I’ve been that seed on good groundbearing fruit, prospering and blessed in every way, and seeing all the fruits come from that happy place. I feel like I’ve been the seed in each of these forms at different times in my life, which is one reason I love this story.
In this song, I’m focusing more on the aspect of the SOIL rather than the seed, and asking the question “What kind of soil do you want to be?”Do you want to be the kind that receives the seed and brings forth fruit for the benefit of the world? Or are you going to fall in one of the other categories? In spite of modern teaching on equality, not everybody will win the race, and in this case, it looks like only ONE FOURTH of the seeds have any sort of long term results; the rest just pass out of existence without experiencing their phase of prosperity, their period of flourishing, or their time of being a blessing to the world.
Another point I get from this parable is that once again God has provided for humanity everything we need to flourish, just like in the Garden of Eden. We have as a race everything we need to progress and prosper, and it’s left to us as individual soil to decide on how we will receive and use what has been given us. Are we going to be the receptive kind? Are we going to be the kind that uses what He gives us and prospers, that makes a better world, preaching His Kingdom principles and bringing His light and love to others? And I don’t mean doing it in a religious way, but just that daily kind of fruitfulness, the city on a hill or the candle on the candlestick beautifully giving light to those around us. A lot of believers want ministry, or greatness in some way, there’s a desire for recognition — but can we be content with just being those faithful little seeds sprouting up everywhere, being His flowers, fruit, vegetables, bringing some form of life to humanity everywhere we’re planted?
We’re all planted somewhere.There’s a reason why we are where we are, so I propose that the important thing is that we each focus on that, and become the kind of plant or the kind of soil where we are that will bring forth all sorts of fruit, vegetation and flowers for the world to see and feed from; that they may see our good works, & glorify our Father which is in heaven, a flourishing garden that people can visit.
We’ve all had the experience of visiting a beautiful garden or forest where we have felt so refreshed, renewed, and reborn nearly, benefitting greatly from that time in nature. Well, God help us to be those kind of people that when others are around us get refreshed, fed, & strengthened.
As for me and my house, that’s what we want to do. I pray the same for you. You can find this song here, please enjoy:
And may God bless you and enable you to flourish and prosper as you receive His seed into your receptive soil. Like the beautiful prayer our forefathers prayed:
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you *peace. [Numbers 6:24–26]
- shālôm is used of harmony with God in which all a person’s needs are met and the person experiences wholeness. [Complete Biblical Library Hebrew-English Dictionary]
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