In 1837, John Deere developed and manufactured the first commercially successful cast-steel plow. This departure from the standard cast-iron plow along with a modified design of the plow blade, helped earn Deere a place in history.
While living in Grand Detour, Illinois, Deere noticed the plows of the day were having a hard time with the sticky, clay-based soils of the area. He recalled the needles he had previously polished by running them through sand as he grew up in his father's tailor shop in Vermont. The plow he developed as a result was known as "The Plow that Broke the Plains."
With springtime just around the corner, farmers across the country will soon be using plows, tillers, and harrows to prepared the land for planting. Hard, compacted soil is of little use for farmers. While the seed could be spread little, if any, would take root. Jesus' parable in Mark 4 makes this spiritual comparison. "15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them." The soil along the path is compacted to the point where nothing can take root.
So often the Parable of the Sower, is used to illustrate how nonChristians react to the Gospel message. I believe there is a message within for Believers.
I have gone through times in my spiritual life where my heart has become like the soil along the path- hard and compacted. New spiritual insight and learnings have not taken root because of the hardening of my heart and mind. On occasion, God has chosen to use the cast-steel plow of discipline to break up the hard soil of my heart and mind.
At times we need to have deep furrows cut in our spirit to allow a new harvest of insight, blessings, and a renewed relationship with Him. It is through this softening of our heart's soil that allows for growth.
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