We've known them exclusively as responses to the gospel. Ground
and fruit. Soil and words.
Words can fall on many kinds of soil (or lack of soil). In
Matthew 13, Jesus identifies four types of ground on which seeds can fall. By the way side refers to hard ground
that prevents the seed from even taking roots. Birds swoop and eat the seeds
before anything can happen. Stony
ground provides a tiny bit of soil that actually allows the seeds to germinate
and begin to grow, but because the roots cannot penetrate the stones to get
into the earth they wither and die. The thorny
ground allows the seed to grow, but the thorns choke the life out of the little
plants. Finally, there is the good
ground. The conditions for germination are rich and present, and a harvest is
predicted. The seed grow into plants that produce much fruit.
Yet is there a connection between sowing seeds of the gospel
and sowing seeds through your writing?
Could the hard ground be the reader who hears about your
work, does not understand the content but chooses to plaster 1-star reviews complete
with atrocious and defamatory claims? Like Satan who plucks the message away
from the could-be-believer, keeping the heart unenlightened and discouraging
others who may benefit from the book from reading it?
What if the stony ground portrays the avid reader who
delights in words, but she pledges no allegiance to your authorship and when
negative remarks comes to the fore, her so-called love for your work rapidly
evaporates?
The thorny ground may be the audience that receive your
books, but whose minds are full of other distractions and pleasures. Not that
they dislike your work, but their attention is elsewhere and thus have no time
for your words. (How many books can a person read during the time she takes to
browse social media?)
The good ground depicts the one who buys, borrows, reads,
receives and is affected positively by your words. Your writing changes his
life and he is on a high with rave reviews and enthusiastic accolades. His
words ringing out to the world bear much fruit - draw more readers and 4-star
and 5-star reviews. The reader described by the “good ground” is the only one
of the four types who is truly supportive of your work, because as with the
gospel, the proof is fruit.
In Matthew 13:9, Jesus remarks, "He who has ears to
hear, let him hear!" A person's reception of God’s Word is determined by
the condition of his heart. A reader's reception of your words is determined by
the state of his heart. Your prayer can shape the heart. Be blessed today.
Find Susan at:
http://susanharris.ca
https://www.facebook.com/SusanHarrisCanadianAuthor
https://twitter.com/SusanHarris20
http://www.amazon.com/Susan-Harris/e/B007XMP4QS/
BIO: Susan Harris is a speaker and former teacher, and the author of Golden Apples in Silver Settings, Remarkably Ordinary, Little Copper Pennies and Little Copper Pennies for Kids. Her first submission to Chicken Soup for the Soul is published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Cat Did What? edition as Smokey's Lockout, and was released August 19, 2014. Remarkably Ordinary will be released in print on November 1, 2014. Her upcoming children's picture book, Alphabet on The Farm will be released in both English and French. Susan was born in exotic Trinidad but now lives on the Saskatchewan prairies with her husband, daughter and the gregarious cats.
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3 comments:
Susan, thank you for sharing your creative and insightful thoughts and application. It's an interesting approach for writers and our writing, based on that key parable of The Kingdom. ~~+~~
It was a rhema word for me, Peter, and I believe it will come to pass as I hold on to this angle of truth. This morning someone messaged me that they had read the book and was going to put a review, and another person put one since writing the post and today. That's 4 in ten days and I'm praying about it everyday.
Wonderful! That's great encouragement for you, and it provides you a sense of how your readers are responding to their tasting the fruit of your writing labour. ~~+~~
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