road trip
Dirt. When you drive through the farmland of the San Joaquin Valley, you just can't help but marvel at the dark, rich soil. This is the kind of soil that farmers get all itchy to plant when they dig their hands into it.
We passed several empty fields with row after row of freshly plowed dirt silently waiting for their next batch of seeds. The land may have looked barren but it had a stark beauty to it. The geometry of the rows. The deep richness of the color. The potential to cradle life.
If you travel the length of the valley from Sacramento to the base of the Grapevine along Interstate 5 and pay close attention to the dirt, you will notice a gradual transition in the color and texture of the land. Further south, it's very pale and sandy, needing lots of tender care and water to produce crops. Further north, it's darker and richer but still needs tending to fulfill its life-giving mission.
Good stewards of the land know this. They know the value of crop rotation, water ratios and proper nutrients. They know how to lovingly coax the land to its full potential.
Jesus knew this, too. He also knew that not all soil would bear fruit. Read His parable of the four soils in Matthew 13:1-9.. I'm not going to give away the plot but if you have trouble understanding it, follow up with Matthew 13:10-23.
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