Picking Rocks - A Devotion
When you grow up on a farm you face a lot of repetitive chores. The cows have to be milked morning and evening every day. The cows need to be fed. The stalls need to be mucked out. Depending on the time of year you have to sow crops or harvest crops, bale hay, mow the lawn, plow the garden, put in seeds, pull the weeds. I’s a never-ending list. (Farmers out there – can I get an amen!?)
There’s one repetitive chore that makes no sense at all. Every year when the field is plowed up to plant corn or oats, we all gathered in the field for an annual event.
Picking rocks.
It is exactly what it sounds like. We followed the farm tractor and cart up and down the field picking up rocks. Anything larger than your hand had to be harvested. Often there were rocks the size of a dinner plate. Sometimes the rocks were the size of a hub cap. Every so often they were larger. I mean it took two people to pick them up larger.
When the cart was full we drove down to the fence row and unloaded the rocks on to an existing rockpile. Rockpiles created from picking rocks off this same field the year before. And the year before that. And the year before that.
Every year we have the same conversations. Where did all these rocks come from? Didn’t we do this last year? They must have had babies. And indeed, to me it was a great mystery why this seemed to be a never-ending job.
I’ve bonded with many an oldtime farmer over their mournful tales of picking rocks. That gives me comfort that it wasn’t just my family crazy enough to do this every year.
It reminds me of Jesus’ parable of the sower.
4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Matthew 13:4-8 NIV
The farmer’s goal is the good soil. That’s why we picked up rocks – so we could harrow and work the soil and then drive the corn planter safely over a smooth field. The seeds go into the good soil, and if the rain cooperates, a good crop is harvested.
Of course the point of Jesus’ parable is that the human heart is like the soil.
19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Matthew 13:19-23 NIV
Jesus explains that the seed that fell on rocky ground might spring up, but as soon as the going gets tough the roots are too shallow to weather the drought – or the storm. What creates shallow roots in our hearts? Neglect. Apathy. Misdirected priorities. Rocky things that prevent us from sinking our roots deep in the Word and in prayer and worship. Can we throw those rocks out so we can have a healthy relationship with the Lord? Yes, we can. But only with the help of the Holy Spirit.
First, be sure of your salvation. Paul wrote in Romans that anyone who is saved has the Holy Spirit. Read Jesus’ teaching on the work of the Holy Spirit in John 14 - 17.
Oh yeah – that’s the second thing. Immerse yourself in the Word of God. Allow Him to speak to your heart and be willing to obey. The Gospel of John is a great place to start.
Find a Bible-believing church to become a part of. As my pastor likes to say, being a Christian is not an individual activity We need to have the fellowship and accountability and support that only a church family can provide.
Realize that you’re not working on a religion. You are working on a relationship. As God speaks to you through His Word, He calls you to come to him with your requests, your praise, your thanks and your worship.
I don’t have to pick rocks off a field any more. But I do need to be aware of any rocks that might spring up in my heart and surrender them to the Lord.
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