I attend a Bible study with some men I know, and some I don’t know so well. We sit and chat before getting into the Word and all seems well with everyone, which is nice and pleasant. At the end of our meeting we have a time of prayer for each other, it’s one of the highlights of our get together. We encourage one another and it’s a good thing to do. What’s interesting to me is the pattern that seems to be emerging from the prayer requests being made. Even though we understand that God’s love is all around us, more and more of the men in our Bible study group are asking to be prayed for about depression.
    I understand that we all have ups and downs and that’s just a part of life but when we’re alone with our own thoughts what do we focus on? There are plenty of reasons to be down at times aren’t there. A couple of the men are out of work and have been for quite some time now, another has family problems we won’t go into and one guy seems to be always having to deal with serious diseases, cancer and such within his family and circle of friends and neighbors. Sometimes it looks like things aren’t going to turn around. Should we expect that they do?

    We’ve been studying Matthew chapter 13 verses 1 through 8:
Matthew 13:1 In that day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the seaside.
2 And great crowds were gathered to Him, so that He went into a boat and sat. And all the crowd stood on the shore. 3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured them.
5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth. And they sprang up immediately, because they had no deepness of earth. 6 And the sun rising, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away. 7And some fell among thorns. And the thorns sprung up and choked them.
8 And some fell on the good ground and yielded fruit, indeed one a hundredfold, and one sixty, and one thirty.

    And as we read on we came across the thought that the condition of the earth spoken about by Jesus is actually the condition of our hearts, of course. My friend sitting next to me began to explain how that condition, being stony or hard with no dirt for the seed to take a foot hold, is not a permanent condition and can be cultivated into a soil worthy of growth and ultimately a bountiful harvest. The funny thing about this is what was overlooked about the hard ground or rocky soil. Anyone who has studied archaeology knows this one truth; when left to its own devices, dirt overcomes all, and I’ll explain why this is important. 
    If we leave these stony pathways to the elements the earth automatically, without pause, without mercy will inevitably cover and bury whatever manmade structure was once standing there. We see it the jungles of the Americas where entire cities are devoured by the earth and simply disappear from view and are erased from the historical record. We see it in the deserts of Africa where solid stone structures are eroded away or just completely covered by sand. So, in a way we need to tend to these hard places so that we might have pathways to and fro, and buildings to dwell in. So we sweep away the dirt and prune away the over growth to keep things orderly and functional and pleasing to our eyes. The danger lies in making every place in our lives this way, including the places that shouldn’t be dry and hard and unable to bear fruit.
    The underlying message here is that maybe, just maybe we are cultivating some things in the wrong ways in turn making sure the hard stony earth of our hearts stays that way.

    We need to till the earthliness of our hearts. That means we have to break the ground to soften it up enough for it to accept God’s spiritual seed. The hard parts that take up residence and compact in us, the things that keep us from our appointed rounds with God. When we ask Him, He will reveal those things to us personally.
    Meanwhile the ‘fertilizer’ we’re dealt with in life might be put to good use here. As we’re dealing with things like depression and anger or other challenges in our lives whatever they may be. When that ground is finally softened up sufficiently and the ‘fertilizer’ deftly integrated into it, you might find that there is much more room in there for all the things God has in store for you. More love for Him and everyone around you. More mercy for those who need a loving word. More grace for the people that test our patience in our lives. More joy for our everyday living. Most importantly, more of God and His storehouses of goodness He has for us when we are finally ready to receive them.
    I’m ready to make the change and start to re-direct my thought life to more identify with Jesus and our Father. To ask for a better understanding of His ways and His will for me and my loved ones, and I

pray that all of us, friend and foe alike come to this mutually beneficial conclusion that we are all in this same condition. The condition that finds us separated from our heavenly Father and our never ending walk toward Him. May He search our hearts and show us our short comings. Then I pray that He show us how to get closer to Him. Then maybe that tiny seed will finally sprout up and see the light of day and grow into a mighty tree that bears abundant fruit for everyone to share. Amen

Argent Pennon