Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8 all give us the Parable of the Sower. If you aren’t familiar with this parable, I would advise reading it before going further.
Parable of the Sower – from Mark 4
Today, I would like to focus on Mark 4:18 – 20.
Mark 4:18 – 20 (NIV)
Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.”
If you simply read the verses above, you may just simply flow from one type of person to the next – and make the same distinction that I made – that being there are two different types of people being discussed. I think the realization that I came to today is this can be just one person. Not one person at the same time mind you, but nonetheless, one person.
In the past, when I have read these scriptures, I have quickly concluded I am the type of person in verse 20 because I was living the Christian life I thought it was referring too.
Mark 4:20 (NIV)
Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.
Today marked a new understanding of who I am. Sometimes, I believe I am the person in verses 18 – 19. Other times, I can say that I am verse 20. However, debt, teenagers, wanting to be out of debt, other weaknesses … all of these things and more … as I allow them to consume my thinking … I quickly become the person described in verses 18 and 19. The worries of this life … come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
That’s not the life God intended for me to live. If I am to live the life God intended, then I will focus on the joy that is only found in him.
John 15:10 – 11 (NIV)
If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
What keeps us from being the person described in Mark 4:20? What keeps us from having Jesus’ joy in us? Lack of faith, disobedience, worrying about the hard times we are going through here on earth, and more are the thorns that attempt to choke the word.
So, knowing these things choke the word, making it unfruitful … how do we overcome them and enter into the joy that God has for us? The things aren’t going away. My debt will still be here tomorrow. My children will still be teenagers (and I’ve got four more after the current two).
Hebrews 12:2 (NIV)
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Although Jesus’ tough times were brought on by our sin and not his own, he still had to endure. He still had to go through things that COULD HAVE (but didn’t) choke the word. How did he endure? How did he continue on? He focused on the joy set before him. He knew how the story ended! He understood that he would soon be with the father – again – eternally! He knew that he would save all of us – or at least provide a way for us to be saved.
What is my debt compared to what Jesus went through on the cross? What can a teenager bring into our family that would even compare to his trials? (Some of you may be thinking you have an answer … but believe me … in the end, you don’t.)
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith …
Go with God,
Donald B
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