Today we read Mark 4 in our Spoken Word Bible Reading Plan. I want to share something different from the "Parable of the Sower". Let's look at verses 2-8:
2 And He taught them many things in parables (illustrations or comparisons put beside truths to explain them), and in His teaching He said to them: 3 Give attention to this! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed [of the same kind] fell on ground full of rocks, where it had not much soil; and at once it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil; 6 And when the sun came up, it was scorched, and because it had not taken root, it withered away. 7 Other seed [of the same kind] fell among thorn plants, and the thistles grew and pressed together and utterly choked and suffocated it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seed [of the same kind] fell into good (well-adapted) soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing, and yielded up to thirty times as much, and sixty times as much, and even a hundred times as much as had been sown.
Notice that the person spoken of here, the "sower", went out with the intention of sowing seeds to produce a crop. As he was in the process of sowing, some of his seed "fell" in different places: along the path, on the rocks, among the thorns, AND on good soil. "Fell" here is the Greek word "pipto". One of the meanings of this word is: unintentional falling. We know from the explanation that Jesus gave to His disciples that the seed here was the Word of God. The good soil refers to the heart (spirit/soul combination) that was prepared to receive the Word. The born again spirit is always ready, but the soul (mind, emotions and will) needs to be prepared. How do we prepare our soul? By spending time in prayer, praise and worship, study and meditation of the Word and intimate fellowship with HIM! This has proven to be so true in my life! I ALWAYS attend church, listen to teaching, read the Word with the intention of hearing for the purpose of learning so that I can be a DOER of the Word I hear. THIS parable shows me that when I am prepared to hear, I can hear something even randomly and the Spirit of God will be able to make it real to me so that I can continue to build on the layers of knowledge that I have intentionally added. THIS is why I can learn from and of Him while watching a movie, a baseball game, playing with the grandchildren or any number of other ways that I spend my time. God is SO good that He will use every means possible to get His TRUTH to us, IF we will only stay ready to hear! HALLELUJAH! It is SO worth it to prepare, after all, "preparation time is never wasted time"! AMEN! Here is Hillsong United with "Say The Word":
Shalom in Him!
