Day Four – January 10, 2013

Mark Chapter Four

What stuck out in this chapter?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wondered about the parable that leads off this chapter.  I’ve often wondered what it would have been like to have heard Jesus tell the story of the sower for the very first time.  Even with His explanation, there are times when I think I’ve got it, and other times, when I can’t help but wonder if I’m missing the point.

I will think in terms of people I’ve encountered.  There are some who seem like that seed falling on a beat down path.  Life has turned soil into something hard and impervious.  They seem closed off to God’s Word and the life that God has for them. 

I’ll think of folks who were enthusiastic at first.  Something takes place in their life and suddenly their faith springs to life.  For some they were raised in the church, but they have this new found passion in their spiritual lives.  But it seems short lived.  Old friends and old ways come calling and turn up the heat and you almost see that faith shrinking – and I’ve stood there doing everything I could to call them back, but at times to no avail.

For others that seed seems to be taking root and I am excited to see where God will lead them.  But then the stuff of life starts taking more of their time, their energy and their attention.  They are consumed by the thorns all around them and there’s times I can hear their choked voices in mid-conversation.

And finally I’ve been overjoyed to see people for whom the seed takes root and does absolutely incredible things.  Having seen them in person it makes perfect sense for Jesus to be speaking in terms of the abundant harvest that their lives become in response to God’s Word.

But just when I’m sure that’s what Jesus is talking about, I find myself asking … so who am I in this parable.  Is my heart always that good soil that produces abundant fruit?  Or are there areas in my life that seem hardened to God’s Word because I’m deep down afraid it will call for instruments to come in and break up that hardness and return it to receptive soil?  Am I so arrogant to think that the heat of the sun makes no impact or that the thorns of worry never choke God’s Word within me? 

So is this parable about the others who respond to God’s Word or is it about the soil within our own hearts and lives?  And is the answer: “Yes!”?

In either case, God is certainly generous with His Word – casting it in every direction – desiring to see it take root and produce a harvest of life.  I think that’s yet another take away for us as well.  If we follow the generosity of this Sower, we’ll faithfully cast that Word near and far – leaving it up to God to see where it takes root.

What do you think?