How's Your Dirt? Is your life-soil fertile enough to produce the crop you desire? Ep 290
Jun 10, 2024
Rock Solid Families
Jesus frequently spoke in parables to teach the people of the day. The parables sometimes seemed to be not so straight forward. Almost like riddles. He then makes the point that those who do not have the heart and mind to hear them will not understand them. His point simply being that you have to be prepared and ready to receive the Word of God. Sometimes the word is referred to as the "seed".
This is the Parable of the Sower or sometimes called the Parable of the Four Soils. Jesus tells about 4 different types of soils in which the farmer may throw his seed. In each type Jesus teaches about what the outcome will be based on the quality of the soil. Here's the bottom line, Jesus is encouraging us to make our soil ready to receive the seed and nourish it in order to produce the greatest yield of crop. In this case, the soil is our mind and heart.
If you are reading God's word and struggling to make sense of what it means to you, Jesus is asking you to slow down and continue to work your soil. In other words, work your mind and heart with humility and desire to learn more about the ways of Christ. When the Word is described as the "Living Word" it is meaning that the Word of God, the Bible, continues to grow in us as we are ready to receive it. Things we read yesterday may have had little meaning, but maybe tomorrow the same words hit us like a eureka moment!
Preparing the soil of your mind and heart is a process from birth to death. Give yourself grace when something doesn't make sense. Be a student and ask questions and seek the understanding of the Word of God.
Jesus frequently spoke in parables to teach the people of the day. The parables sometimes seemed to be not so straight forward. Almost like riddles. He then makes the point that those who do not have the heart and mind to hear them will not understand them. His point simply being that you have to be prepared and ready to receive the Word of God. Sometimes the word is referred to as the "seed".
This is the Parable of the Sower or sometimes called the Parable of the Four Soils. Jesus tells about 4 different types of soils in which the farmer may throw his seed. In each type Jesus teaches about what the outcome will be based on the quality of the soil. Here's the bottom line, Jesus is encouraging us to make our soil ready to receive the seed and nourish it in order to produce the greatest yield of crop. In this case, the soil is our mind and heart.
If you are reading God's word and struggling to make sense of what it means to you, Jesus is asking you to slow down and continue to work your soil. In other words, work your mind and heart with humility and desire to learn more about the ways of Christ. When the Word is described as the "Living Word" it is meaning that the Word of God, the Bible, continues to grow in us as we are ready to receive it. Things we read yesterday may have had little meaning, but maybe tomorrow the same words hit us like a eureka moment!
Preparing the soil of your mind and heart is a process from birth to death. Give yourself grace when something doesn't make sense. Be a student and ask questions and seek the understanding of the Word of God.
Welcome to Rock Solid Family Podcast. This is Merle Hutchinson alongside of Nurse Linda. Hello, Nurse Linda. Oh how are you my sweet caregiver? How?
Speaker 2:
are you doing?
Speaker 1:
I'm doing great. I haven't had any sleep, but I'm doing great.
Speaker 2:
It is hard to believe that you just had your knee replaced when we record just like yesterday 24 hours ago.
Speaker 1:
I did a podcast last night.
Speaker 2:
That is nuts At 8 o'clock at night. Who knows.
Speaker 1:
So who knows? Now I'll probably be paying for it for the next three or four days, but it is pretty amazing. I had a knee replacement, so now I have a matching pair. So but you say this one's squeaking more like you're, like I hear the plastic banging around on this one, the other one, once in a while I would, but on this one, like I've been walking a little bit and I hear a click, click, click, click.
Speaker 2:
I'm hoping you listen to the doctors and nurses this time.
Speaker 1:
This time, I did last time.
Speaker 2:
Oh goodness, After 11 major surgeries, we pulled up at the Beacon Surgery Center in Summit Woods and I was kind of shocked that we'd not been to this one.
Speaker 1:
Some people visit baseball parks for a hobby. I do surgery centers.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, we're just trying to tour mall over Cincinnati, but anyway, that has nothing to do with our topic, but I'm glad you're doing okay, thank God.
Speaker 1:
And.
Speaker 2:
I'm sure after this show you're going to need some pain meds and a nap. But, anyway, what are we talking about today? Talking about dirt, dirt. Talking about dirt.
Speaker 1:
You're trying to throw some dirt on me there a little bit, but I'm not, I'm just gonna let it roll right off of me. Yeah, yeah, uh. Yeah, we're talking about dirt, but not just dirt like dirty, but we're talking about stuff that you try to uh produce crops out of you probably tried.
Speaker 1:
A farmer needs dirt, right, he needs actually good soil, and so we're going to talk a little bit, we're going to do some parable work here. Yeah, okay, and a lot of that is because and I think you and I got off not to get totally off on a different tangent, but we were driving the other day and we were talking about, you know, the number of people that come in as our clients that we typically ask like, well, what's your faith background, or whatever. And most people will have a faith background that they'll put down, you know, catholic, baptist, methodist, non-denominational, whatever but most of them will admittedly, say, but it's pretty empty, or I'm non-practicing, or it's, I don't really connect with it, and so that's the kind of dirt, or lack of good dirt, that we're going to talk about, because you can see, then, what happens in your life, just because you might call yourself and name a Christian, but you have lived a life that's very much not in God's nature and you know you got dirt on you right, yeah.
Speaker 2:
So the question for you today to kind of reflect on is how's your dirt? And if you don't know, have any idea what that means. Please stay tuned.
Speaker 1:
I hope that we will fill you in and help you understand a little bit better, but before we do, let's thank our sponsors let's say, casey's outdoor solutions, maxwell construction and the hoosier ice house, located all down in lawrenceburg, indiana, or thereabouts, and so, uh, we just want to thank our sponsors for continuing to be behind our messaging All very good people. So if you run into them or you know any of these guys or these owners that work in any of these places and you heard their name mentioned on our show, just tell them thanks, because we appreciate what they're doing.
Speaker 2:
And hon, why don't you tell them about the Families Rock class that's coming up June 22nd?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, gosh, that seems to come around so fast.
Speaker 1:
Every month yeah every month, just like clockwork. So the fourth Saturday of every month we continue to run our Families Rock Parenting class. We will run that. We have been running that out of the firehouse down on Tate Street in Lawrenceburg, indiana, and that is open to anyone. We have some people go through the courts but some people just choose to go on their own. Some people they've been referred through other counselors and that kind of thing. It just doesn't matter. It's wide open, it's $75 per household and you know you go. Well, I don't know about that.
Speaker 1:
Well, that's three and a half hours basically of counseling, because the groups are small enough that you're going to get quite a bit of one-on-one, you know at least your individual needs are going to be met.
Speaker 2:
So it's three or four sessions in one morning, so.
Speaker 2:
But let's talk a little bit more about this topic because years ago, when I was a children's minister working with children, I really came to this realization and I believe it was the Holy Spirit really speaking to my spirit and my heart of that I was sowing a lot of seed with children and groups and classes and teaching and worshiping, but I kind of felt this conviction that I needed to put more energy and focus on the dirt instead if I wanted things to grow for God.
Speaker 2:
And so, in order to understand, I want us to take a look at probably one of the most popular parables that Jesus tells. In three out of the most popular parables that Jesus tells, and three out of the four gospels Matthew, mark and Luke all tell this story, and it's often referred to as the parable of the sower or the parable of the soils. And so we want to really kind of dig into this and use this as kind of a catalyst for conversation about our soil and our dirt at home and our family with our kids and our lives and our marriage. And so we want to kind of a catalyst for conversation about our soil and our dirt at home and our family with our kids and our lives and our marriage, and so we want to kind of first unpack a little bit of the meaning behind the parable.
Speaker 2:
Jesus used simple stories to tell an important truth, and this is one of them.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah. So do we want to read the parable, or do we just want to walk through the different parts of it?
Speaker 2:
What we're going to do is we're going to read it in chunks.
Speaker 1:
Okay.
Speaker 2:
But first of all we want to kind of explain what each part means. So first of all, who is the sower?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, so the sower represents, I mean, the Almighty, the Creator, the God, and this is our God, who basically has given us the chance to have a crop, right To have production and life. And so this is the giver of life the sower.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, so he is going to plant these biblical truths, he's going to share these promises of salvation and his word and how we can have the peace and the blessings and the hope that we want. Okay, so he's the sower ultimately. Right and I had to realize that, okay, I can't take that responsibility and make that mine. How okay, I can't take that responsibility and make that mine.
Speaker 2:
How it grows is up to the sower. The seed represents the word of God, and that's the message of faith, that's the message of hope, that's the kingdom of heaven, and so the seeds that I was planting, that God was using me to plant. I felt like sometimes it wasn't bearing much fruit. And so the seed is the word of God and where it's planted.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, we oftentimes talk about when we're working with people and you go I'm not sure if I did any good or not and we'll make the reference. Well, we're just planting seeds and basically we're trying to plant the word of God on somebody's heart, but ultimately they have to be the one who receives that, or God has to draw them into that.
Speaker 2:
Have to be the one who receives that or God has to draw them into that. Okay, and so the soils are really represents the way, the different ways that people respond to the seed, to respond to the sower, respond to God's message, and so we really want to unpack those soils. Today there's four different kind that Jesus kind of lays out in his word, and he frequently used these explanations to try to unpack how we receive God's word, how we respond to God's call into our life right, and so let's kind of go through them if we could, and we're going to kind of unpack.
Speaker 2:
One of the interesting things about Jesus's parables is that he often did not explain them after the story. He just kind of left it there like, okay, what do you think God's talking about? This is one of the few that he actually explained. He broke down and said this is what I was trying to tell you, so we're going to go cut to the chase and talk about what he was basically trying to tell you. These are Jesus's words coming out of three out of the four gospels about the different soils that he saw.
Speaker 1:
An interesting thing about the parables is that Jesus spoke in this kind of metaphoric language and a lot of times he made statements that if some people will hear these words and they won't understand, and they won't understand because they're not giving their heart into the understanding. And so even today, when you hear people that they maybe say, oh, I read the Bible once and it was all just a bunch of you know, a story or whatever, and that represents more of what he was talking about then, that some people's hearts and minds are not open to receive it, you have to be willing to open, to receive it.
Speaker 1:
And then when you do and you start to go well, what does that parable mean? And you start to actually think about it, then it starts to click and it makes sense. And that's what Christ did that for, like he wanted you to dig in a little bit so that you would internalize it and once you did, you'd go. You'd have these eureka moments like oh now I know, what that means.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and so that's a perfect lead way into the very first type of person that Jesus was speaking about, and this was the people where, really, the seeds just fell along the path. They weren't even in soil at all.
Speaker 1:
Right.
Speaker 2:
And he explains this in Matthew 13. I'm just going to use one of the gospels, matthew 13, verses 18 to 19. It says Jesus says when anyone hears the message about the kingdom of heaven and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart, that's, the seed along the path. So in other words, those who are indifferent, who are their hearts hardened. They're unreceptive to the message. Satan literally snatches that seed up before it has any chance to take a root at all.
Speaker 1:
This would be like a farmer trying to throw his seed out on blacktop gravel concrete right. Like the seed itself is still good, but there's nothing to receive it. There's no, it just doesn't have that ability. And so that's what many people are. Think about the hardness of concrete, and you can have a hardness of mind and heart and the seed's gonna fall on you the same way it would fall on concrete I think about this with a lot of our social media friends.
Speaker 2:
You know we are friends. I mean, I have like 2.1 million, not million what boy you are.
Speaker 1:
You're an influencer, aren't you? You're an influencer. You know, I used to, until I got hacked. Now I got about four friends. There you go.
Speaker 2:
And so you know so many of those folks I know just by. You know circumstance or you know situational things. But you know the friends I have. They may see me post a scripture or a story of God's healing or provision and they're just unwilling to even entertain that idea that God could do that. Or God is able or they reject really the truth of God's word. So that's really those people that the seed just falls along the path.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, let's go to the next one. So this next one does kind of look a little bit more like that rocky soil right. It's kind of in the middle, a little bit of gravel, a little bit of dirt. So, Jesus explains this one too in chapter 20, 21.
Speaker 2:
No, it's chapter 13. I'm sorry, verses 20 and 21.
Speaker 1:
Oh, okay, we didn't put that 13 in there. Okay, so the seed falling on a rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. And this is gosh. You know, we see this kind of thing all the time, where maybe somebody's they were shook a bit in life and they kind of fell to their knees and they I have to do something different and better, and that's, you can tell that's more of an emotional response to God's word rather than a full, authentic response. And once the emotion starts to clear up, once the sun shines again in their life, they kind of oh, they go back to their old way.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I think about when we do campfires and we're trying to build a fire and you will put like little kindling and paper, you know, in there and, man, at first it was like whew, it feels like a really big flame right well then, once that paper gets burned up, right, there's not a whole lot left.
Speaker 2:
If you don't keep feeding that fire, if you don't keep nurturing those seeds that planted and started to bear, to grow roots, then then you'll have, um, uh, bearing much fruit. I think of at the elementary school, remember years ago for Arbor Day, they would give, they would send kids home with those little trees right.
Speaker 1:
Oh my gosh, do you know how many trees I've killed? I could probably get thrown in jail by some naturalist.
Speaker 2:
And the kids were so excited they would come home and they would, like you know, water it every day. Sometimes they watered it too much and then they would. You know, we give it a little fertilizer and then we put it in the ground, but if you don't protect that, you will run it over with a lawnmower, which I think you did a couple of times, yeah, well over all these years it is funny.
Speaker 1:
We have two surviving trees. We have one sycamore, that is actually yeah, it's actually doing very well. You probably don't even notice it, but it's actually towards the back of our property and it's probably, you know, 15, 20 feet tall now. Yeah, but, hun, we have a walnut tree and it's been in the ground for pro well, I've been retired for what? Six plus years, and I got it my last year and it's a walnut tree. It's only about this big and I keep waiting for it to just die, but it won't like it right now. It's got about five little leaves on it, so it's it's stunted.
Speaker 2:
So if the soil isn't rich, if it doesn't have a lot of nutrients in it, if it's rocky, then it's not going to grow a whole lot. We're gonna have to really nurture, nurture it and fertilize it and things like that. So that's rocky soil. Yeah, let's go to the next one the thorny soil.
Speaker 1:
Okay, so this could be good soil thorny soil Okay, so this could be good soil, but it's already got a lot of contamination in it by other things such as weeds and thorns and brush, and so it's got a lot of other things and you got a lot of things. Then that means they're all fighting for the space or fighting for the nutrients, or fighting for the moisture, and and weeds are rapid growers and that's because you know they, they're almost they. They look good in the moment.
Speaker 2:
Right, those dandelions are really pretty you know, remember, the kids used to pick them all the time yeah give them to me like they were flowers, like those are weeds well, and then the little kids.
Speaker 1:
once they go into puff balls, they pull them and they blow on them and you're like no stop doing that the weed seeds just go over yeah. But so this is just that soil, hon. It is okay soil, but it's also allowed everything else to grow in it, and so there's been no weeding and culturing of the soil, because you have to work the soil right, you have to work the garden.
Speaker 2:
So Jesus says, and this is in Matthew 13, verse 22,. So Jesus says this is in Matthew 13, verse 22,. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word out, making it unfruitful.
Speaker 2:
So you could grow up your whole life in the church, but, man, when you let the guard down, and you let the weeds in, it can choke you out and it can take you down, and so we get our hearts divided right by money, by success, by worry and stress and, you know, distractions and and so things like faithfulness and hope and integrity and joy and peace, they can't grow. The fruit of the spirit can't grow in a soil that's full of thorns and weeds.
Speaker 1:
And I mean we work, um, I get to work with a lot of men and you know many of them are Christian men that come in and they subscribe to a church or whatever and into a faith, um, but they're stuck in pornography or they're stuck in addiction, and and so it's like well, how in the world could you be attending church and hearing all those messages yet still be pulled so hardly into it?
Speaker 1:
And that's exactly what it is. We've allowed that to come in those weeds and start to take root, and so don't fool yourself into thinking well, I was baptized and I was saved, and so my life is good and I'm clean from here. It's like no, you can be choked out and before you know it, you forget the seed, the word of God and really what it means, and so you don't produce much good fruit from it.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, but Jesus also promises us that we could have fertile soil, that there's an alternative that does bear much fruit. And so in verse 23, this is Matthew 13, 23, he said the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. And this is the one who produces a crop yielding 160 or 30 times what was sown. And so those who hear and understand and will hold it fast and protect, that's who's going to bear much fruit and that's a life that's transformed, I believe.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I mean this is. There's a lot of other things that then come off of this. Once you've got your fertile soil, then the work you know, and Christ talks about pruning back the branches that aren't producing fruit and all these things. So there's so much involved and that's why your faith is a process. It's an ongoing process of protecting it and growing it and but making sure that you have the fertile soil is important.
Speaker 2:
And that's really why we left the church and the school world to do this full time, because we believe, if we can encourage and equip and empower moms and dads and husbands and wives and families, that we can really help to nurture and to fertilize that soil. So some things bear great fruit. And so, man, that is why we do what we do, which is so confusing when we say rock solid families, that's a whole nother parable, right, right, we want that fertile soil, we want things to grow.
Speaker 1:
As we say this. You know, mom and dad, if you're out there listening to this, the idea here is we've talked about this before Many times. You might bring your child in and you say, hey, can you counsel my child? And we say, well, yeah, I guess we could. Let's talk about this and get the scoop behind this. And so often we find out that you know you're going to give me your child for an hour and a week or whatever, and we often realize very quickly let's go home and work on your soil.
Speaker 1:
Let's go home and make all the other 23 plus hours a day. Let's make all that richer so that when your kid comes home he's constantly being bathed in better nutrient, and so that's why we come at you with that. It's not like we don't want to see your kid, but we just know so often that is just not good use of time.
Speaker 1:
It's basically spraying a little fertilizer just on your kid for the hour and then he goes back out into the rocks, and so we gotta get the entire home thinking that way, and, mom and dad, you are the base of that home.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you provide the dirt right. You help the environment that your children are growing in. What is that looking like? So here's the question. As we wrap up our show, I want to challenge you how is your dirt? What's the condition of your heart? Is it rocky? Is there thorns choking it out? Are you open?
Speaker 2:
to receive God's message and his word, these truths. Are there distractions or stressors or anxieties that are hindering your spiritual growth as a parent or as a wife or a spouse? Whether it's your faith, whether it's learning a new skill, maybe it's a personal goal you're working on. One of the first questions you ask people when they walk in is what?
Speaker 1:
Are you coachable?
Speaker 2:
Are you coachable and, honestly, that is, how's your dirt? Is your dirt, willing to receive truth and grow good things. And so you have to be willing to grow roots of understanding, being able to make a commitment, to put the work in to bear the fruit that you say you want.
Speaker 1:
You can't just get something for?
Speaker 2:
nothing.
Speaker 1:
It also Honda, though I mean. When we talk about this, it reminds me of not. You want to get your soil right, you want to get it good and protected, but whose soil is your soil budding up against? You know who's your neighbor, and because you might be taking all of this time to nurture your soil and make sure it's good and fertile, but your neighbor over there hasn't weeded his yard or done anything, and the dandelions are blowing right into yours and you're screaming, and so it's like it does matter who we associate with.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, um, because you may. Rather than producing fruit, you may be spending all your time pulling the weeds that came from other places, and so it does matter who you hang around. Um, or definitely it does matter how good your weed killer is.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, but you got to be patient, though, and remember the different soils and where folks are coming from and where their walk is. Sometimes we do more harm than good when we push so hard or come on so strong they're not receiving those seeds right.
Speaker 2:
It's falling on thorns, or it's falling on rocky soil, and so or along the path. So even Jesus says to the disciples that it's sometimes at some point you have to dust your feet off and go on to someone who's willing to receive the truth. And so maybe you're throwing seed along the path and nothing's growing. Why don't you go to somewhere where the soil maybe is a little bit more willing to receive it?
Speaker 1:
yeah, and I'm even thinking like if you are super particular about your perfect little soil yard and you are a jerk about it, oh yeah. There are neighbors out there that would get at you just for the sake of getting at you.
Speaker 2:
I had neighbors like that growing up.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, there are neighbors who would say I'll show you, and they'll be blowing the dandelions purposely into your yard. And so then it's because they're like, well, if you're going to treat me that way, I'll get you yard. And so then it's because they're like, well, if you're going to treat me that way, I'll get you, and so you're. It goes back to the idea of if you're going to help somebody with their soil.
Speaker 2:
You got to build relationships, so we had. Did you have a neighbor growing up where when you played ball, you weren't allowed to step in their yard?
Speaker 1:
We sure did.
Speaker 2:
So perfect and man, you're right.
Speaker 1:
Like we, we had a nasty attitude toward those people Like oh their lawn is so perfect and you know we were playing you purposefully would throw rocks in their yard, wouldn't you?
Speaker 2:
But we definitely looked down on them or we didn't like that, because they were better than us and they didn't even want us to round in their yard.
Speaker 1:
Do you think they looked down on you?
Speaker 2:
Oh, I'm sure they did See, and that's where the turf wars come from. Yeah, oh, okay, I get it. Here's the number three to remember Watch out for the rocks and the thorns. You know, the thorns and rocks in the story Jesus tells is to remind us that there are going to be difficulties, there are going to be temptations. Those are inevitable, they're a part of life and as long as we're living and breathing, we're going to have rocks and thorns right.
Speaker 2:
It's important to build resilience. Even the Apostle Paul reminds of this when he says we know that suffering produces perseverance, and perseverance, character and character, hope. So Jesus wants us to persevere so that we can bear much fruit.
Speaker 1:
Right, right and one of the last parts of this challenge here is understanding your faith and your deeds. So you could have the most wonderful soil around, but if you're not taking in the seed and allowing it to produce anything, then what good is your great soil right? And so the idea here is, once you have that good soil, it's just not a matter of making a little show place, it's a matter of actually producing from it. And so these are our deeds. We're not saved by and through our deeds, but because we are saved, we have good deeds, and those deeds are out there serving others. So, at the end of the day, if you just have a nice yard for your own benefit to look at, you're running shallow there.
Speaker 2:
Good point. One of my very favorite books that was written by Jesus's half-brother, james, is one of the very first books I really started to dig into. And man James, chapter two.
Speaker 2:
I remember, hon, early, early in our walk, having a friend preach the sermon on faith without deeds is dead, and verses 14 through 17 in James, chapter 2 reminds us of this really important point. James wrote what good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes or food.
Speaker 2:
If one of you says to them go in peace, be warm and well fed, but doesn't do anything about their physical needs, what good is it? Go in peace, be warm and well-fed, but doesn't do anything about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it's not accompanied by action, is dead. So there you have it. We've got to be not just like you said. This pristine yard to look at and be proud of it is to bear much fruit. That's what he's called us to do.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, god created the earth for our good right, for us to use, and so he's always desiring us to produce. Just like he created, he wants us to create. So, guys, there you have it. We are at the beginning of the summer season as we record this, and hopefully this makes sense to you. The idea that we are coming into the growing season as we are doing this on my Strong Dads shows. This summer we're doing rehab, summer rehab 2024.
Speaker 2:
Whether it be your leg or a camper.
Speaker 1:
Because that's part of the. Sometimes we have to get in and we got to pull the weeds. We've got to. We got to hoe the garden, We've got to clean it up. I mean there's. You know, we've lived in our house now for nearly 20 years and we have redo projects. You know we have rehab and it's your faith. The day that you're baptized, you might feel all pristine and great, but you're going to constantly get dirty, you're going to break down, you're going to have troubles and you, you slip, you fall back Right. And so it's that idea of I need to reset, I need to come back, and I got to refocus. I got to get these weeds out, because the weeds are aggressive, they're not going to stop growing. Okay, they're not going to stop growing. That's why we are all sinners.
Speaker 2:
Well, it's funny because the Bible talks about how the disciples asked Jesus if they should pull the weeds, and he said no, I want them. I want them to grow, because that's actually going to help us to be stronger in our faith, more resilient, persevere, because we are dealing with these things in our life that are against us, and so that's going to strengthen us. That's where the root system goes in, right. The root system grows when there is resistance on a plant. That's where the trees that have the most you know attack and pressure, they grow the strongest, and that's what God wants for us.
Speaker 2:
And so, please, and that's what God wants for us. And so please, man, this is such an important show for us as a couple, individuals, as a parent, you know how is your dirt, how is the soil that God's word is planted in, and is it growing and bearing any fruit?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, that's interesting honey you talk about. Why would Jesus even want the weeds, why would he let them grow? And it's kind of like this guys, Anybody can be a good little Christian in church, right.
Speaker 2:
When things are perfect.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, well, when you're in church and everything's perfect and good, but when you walk out, do you have the resilience, do you have the roots, do you have the strength? And we have some friends that own a greenhouse and they talk about how they, before they sell their plants, they actually have to toughen them up and I'm like how do you toughen up plants? And you know, you have to start getting them from the time they're little seedlings. They have to then get them out into the colder air into the colder nights, yeah so that they start to build some of that resilience.
Speaker 1:
And the same thing is with us, like we can't just go hide in the church building or in some fake phony environment. We have to be pressed so that we can see how to resist and how to stand against it.
Speaker 2:
And Jesus told us to go into the world but not to be of the world. And so we can resist the thorns and resist the weeds. We can resist those temptations. God has given us the abilities and the strength to do that. We just need him. We can't do it without him, he says there is no temptation that you cannot overcome. He's given you the ability.
Speaker 1:
All right, guys, hopefully we start our show here with a parable that makes some sense to you about your soil. It's a good check. It's a good time to look in the mirror and say you know what are we doing at our house, so we hope that that is something that hits you. We also know that sometimes we do struggle and if there is something that we can help you with at Rock Solid Families, please reach out to us at 812-576-7625. Also, you can be checking out. We got Jenna over there just burning up newsletters and doing all kinds of stuff. You can go to our website at rocksolidfamiliesorg and you can take in a lot of the information that we're putting out there.
Speaker 1:
So I think that's about it.
Speaker 2:
I would just challenge you this summer to read this parable and read it in the different gospels whether it be Matthew, chapter 13, mark, chapter 4, or Luke, chapter 8, and just compare them. And what is Jesus telling you? What is he saying to you today, for you and your family? So that's just our challenge. We thank you so much. We thank you for the sponsors.
Speaker 1:
Thank you, casey's Outdoor Solutions, maxwell Construction and the Hoosier Ice House, and we just thank all you guys out there listening and sharing our show. Please subscribe to the show. That helps us out greatly. So please hit the subscribe button and help us out there.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, so thank you so much for listening to the Rock Solid Families podcast. Building a stronger community, one family at a time.
Speaker 1:
Make it a great day rock solid families wants to thank casey's outdoor solutions for sponsoring the rock solid families podcast. Casey's has grown to be one of the largest and most unique garden centers and gift shops in the cincinnati tri-state area. Whether you are looking to take on that next landscape project or simply add a little home decor to your house, casey's has you covered. Located at 21481 state State Line Road, lawrenceburg, indiana, call them today at 812-537-3800. Let Casey's help you add beauty to your home. Rock solid families wants to thank maxwell construction for sponsoring the rock solid families podcast. For over 30 years, maxwell Construction has been a leader in turning dreams into realities building schools, banks, restaurants and many other commercial and public facilities. Maxwell Construction has made it their priority to not just build buildings but to build into their community. So if you have any construction needs, call them at 812-537-2200.
Speaker 2:
Rock Solid Families would like to thank Hoosier Ice House for being a proud sponsor of the Rock Solid Families podcast. In the heart of historic Lawrenceburg, Indiana, the Ice House is at the corner of Vine and High Streets. The historic building evokes a feeling of comfort, with spacious indoor and outdoor dining, a large bar and comfortable dining areas Large enough to host parties, yet intimate enough to feel like your favorite neighborhood restaurant. So thank you again for the Hoosier Ice House for sponsoring the Rock Salad Families podcast.
