January 29. Where Do You Keep The Good Soil?

In the Midwest of the United States there is some of the best soil in the world. It is called the breadbasket of the world because so much grain is grown there. To be a successful farmer you must start with the soil. As a leader of your teams, what do you start with? What is your soil?

What is the one thing that you believe your team can come together in delivering value about? The Ag producer balances inputs, equipment, human and computer capital with the elements of nature. Eventually a crop comes forth when it is successful.

But if you just focus on these items without understanding the soil, the crop is likely to fail. Your team balances many items as well but what can you state is your soil? Can you state it simply? Can your team state it simply?

Without an intentional understanding of what the soil of your business or organization is the focus will mistakenly get placed on the other areas. If an agricultural producer focuses on technology only, he finds that the soil will not produce what was desired.

When you know the soil everything else can get aligned to work effectively and efficiently with it. Obstacles can be overcome, and damage can be avoided. Where can you improve your soil today?

As Christian brothers and sisters, the soil to the farmer is what our experiences are to our growth in our relationship with Jesus. Our experiences, or lack of them in our life, shape us. Some bring us to a state of joy and celebration while others bring us to fear and sometimes panic.

But when we take a minute to think about them, we can begin to transform our current condition. We can start to see where the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives. We can share in the experiences of others as well.

Thinking about someone else's condition of poverty might make you feel blessed about your current condition, enhance our attitudes of humbleness, and lead us to express feelings of appreciation. Thinking about events like weddings or funerals can bring about those experiences of joy or even pain.

All those experiences give us a base, like soil, that can be arranged so that we may grow nearer to Christ. In the book of Exodus, we read about the experiences of Moses. The next time we are not feeling confident, maybe we might consider the experiences of the Bible to help us regain our confidence in Christ.

Let us think about our soil and begin to transform it to make sure that our faith is ready for spring planting and growth. What is the first thing you can do about it in the next seven days?

Let us pray, Heavenly Father, it is easy for us as humans to be selfish and live out what is best for us. We thank you for the many experiences that you have shared with us in our lives. We thank you for the people of yesterday and today who share with us.

We thank you for the experiences shared in the Bible. We thank you for the connections of experience we have through our neighborhoods and churches, our coworkers and our vendors, our governments, and our leaders.

May you mix our experiences in our minds like a gardener turns the soil today. Make us ready for amazing growth. We want to witness a wonderful harvest. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen,