[The Children's Chapel]
            ~ A Ministry of The Lorain County Free-Net Chapel ~
                           [line with 3 crosses]

                   What Kind of Dirt Are You?Text Version
                              by Linda Edwards

     "I want to help!"

          "Me, too! Me, too!"

               "Can I? Please?"

          The children gathered around excitedly as Mom took the seed
     packets out of the shopping bag.

          "I want the carrots."

               "Then give me the pumpkins."

                    "But I don't want to plant onions.
                    Yuck!"

          With a laugh, Mom divided the seeds among the children.
     "This year, each of you will have your own garden. You will get
     to choose where you want to plant your seeds, and you will be
     responsible for weeding and watering your own plot. So before you
     get started, you need to go outside and search carefully for the
     perfect spot."

          With that, the children went outside. They looked around the
     front yard and the backyard. They considered things like where
     the sun would come up in the morning and how far the water hose
     would reach. Each child chose the perfect place for planting a
     garden.

          Jerry took great care to dig the soil properly. He removed
     all the weeds and rocks he found and read the back of the package
     to make sure the seeds were planted deep enough. He faithfully
     tended his garden all summer long. On the hottest days, when the
     others didn't want to work in their gardens, he could be found
     working diligently outside.

          Sally started off right. She also made sure her garden was
     planted in good soil and removed the weeds and rocks. However, as
     time went on, she lost interest in her plants. Other things
     became more important to her. Instead of working in the garden on
     those hot summer days, she preferred to spend her time talking on
     the telephone to her friends. It didn't take long for weeds to
     grow up and take over her garden. Soon it became difficult to
     tell exactly which were weeds and which were the plants.

          Billy didn't think he needed to go to all the trouble. He
     didn't realize how important it was to have good soil. He didn't
     want to dig deep because the rocks were in the way, and it was
     hard to dig them out. So he just left them there and tried
     planting his seeds around the rocks.

          Then there was Jill. She took her seeds and just scattered
     them around on the top of the ground. She quickly lost interest
     and didn't bother to even try to take care of her garden the rest
     of the summer.

          Now take a few minutes to think about what kind of harvest
     each of the children was able to get from his garden when summer
     was over and it was time to pick the ripe vegetables.

          If you guessed that Jerry had a good harvest, you are
     absolutely right. He had plenty of vegetables. In fact, he was
     able to set up a table in front of his house and sell some to the
     neighbors.

          Sally had some good vegetables, but most of them were small
     because the weeds grew up and took the nutrition out of the
     ground. She wasn't able to sell any of her vegetables because
     people were buying Jerry's.

          Billy didn't have much to pick. His plants had a little soil
     around them, and at first they looked like they were going to
     grow, but when the really hot days came, the poor plants just
     couldn't live. They wilted and died.

          Unfortunately, Jill didn't have any plants by the end of the
     summer. Remember how she scattered her seeds on the top of the
     ground? Well, the birds came along and had themselves quite a
     good lunch. They didn't leave any seeds to grow into plants.

                            --------------------

          Jesus told a story, called a parable, about four kinds of
     soil. A farmer went out to his fields to plant seeds. Some of the
     seeds fell on top of the ground, and the birds came along and ate
     them up. Some of the seeds grew in the rocky soil, and they
     sprouted up quickly but died in the heat of the sun. Some of the
     seeds tried to grow where there were weeds, and, of course, they
     didn't grow very well. Then there were some seeds that fell in
     the good soil, and they grew strong and tall, and there was a lot
     of grain that came from them.

          Jesus told what the parable means. He said that the
     different types of soil are like different types of people, and
     the seed is like the Bible or the Word of God.

          When some people hear the Word of God, they don't even try
     to listen or understand. The devil takes the Word of God away
     from them and makes them forget, just like the birds ate the seed
     that fell on the top of the ground.

          Some people are like the rocky soil. They hear the Word of
     God and want to do right, but they soon give up.

          Other people want to listen to the Word of God, and they try
     to remember to obey the Bible and do the right things, but other
     things are more interesting to them. Like weeds growing in the
     garden, they have too many other activities to take their time.
     So, they learn a little about God and His Word, but they don't
     grow very strong.

          Then there are the people who are like the good soil. They
     hear God's Word, and they work hard to understand it. They want
     to obey God, and they keep on trying to learn more so they can
     grow strong enough to tell other people all about Him.

                            --------------------

     THINK!

     What kind of dirt are you?
     What kind of dirt do you want to be?
     What would you need to do to become good dirt?

                            --------------------

     BIBLE MEMORY VERSE

            "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord
                 and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18).

     LET'S PRAY

           ****************************************************
               Dear God, I thank you for giving us the Bible.
             Please help me to learn more about you by reading
              and listening to your Word. I want to grow to be
            strong so I can help other people learn to love you.
                           In Jesus' name. Amen.
           ****************************************************

     CAN YOU FIND THIS STORY IN THE BIBLE?
          Matthew 13:3-8; 18-23

                            --------------------

                               Just For Fun:

                               Matching Game

       Soil                              People who obey God
       Rocky Soil                        God's Word
       Soil on top of the ground         Story
       Weedy Soil                        People
       Good Soil                         People who forget
       Seed                              People who don't try to listen
       Parable                           People with too many interests

                       Unscramble the Memory Verse:

                But grace, and in grow of Lord in Savior the
               Jesus and Christ. our 2 Peter 3:18 knowledge

     ---------------
     Used by permission. Copyright © 2006 by Linda Edwards. You may
     NOT re-post this story without permission from the author.

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