Y
Jesus provides vignettes to help people understand God's thoughts which are above our thoughts. In another parable (Matthew 13) Jesus talked about all the types of ground that The Word of God could not flourish in. As a person who has spent much time in farming country this is Good News. One thing I remember growing-up is seeing (in the corners of many hay fields) were large piles of stones. In this way and many other ways farmers prepare their fields to become "good ground." People put tin foil plates in their cherry trees and scare crows in fields to help keep birds away; topsoil and compost is put on shallow ground to make it plentiful: thorns are gathered and burned, while chick weed is gathered and feed to livestock.
God wants us to pray for those who are astray, and minister to those who seem to have no good fruit in their lives. People who know about farming can see this in parables such as this one:
"Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down." - Luke 13:7-9 King James Version (KJV)
In the above verse we see a servant who is pleading with his Lord not to cut down the fruitless tree until he has done all he can to improve its ground and help it start producing. Abraham was also a man who pleaded with God not to destroy people. While Abraham pleaded for the righteous, Jesus pleads for sinners.
God wants us to pray for those who are astray, and minister to those who seem to have no good fruit in their lives. People who know about farming can see this in parables such as this one:
"Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down." - Luke 13:7-9 King James Version (KJV)
In the above verse we see a servant who is pleading with his Lord not to cut down the fruitless tree until he has done all he can to improve its ground and help it start producing. Abraham was also a man who pleaded with God not to destroy people. While Abraham pleaded for the righteous, Jesus pleads for sinners.