thoughts on Mark 4:1-20
1::Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge.
This explicitly shows how much Christ's popularity is growing. Jesus, on the boat, teaches in parables (stories of earthly things to describe heavenly things). Among these parables is a story of a farmer that scatters seed and the seed lands in a variety of environments: Path (birds eat it), Rocky places (springs to life, but gets scortched because it has no root), Thorns (prohibited the plants to thrive), Good Soil (grew and multiplied).
I wonder what condition I am in? If the seed (the word) were scattered into my life, what would happen?
I fear that sometimes I am the the "Thorns", which Jesus describes in verse 18-19, "Others...hear the word; but the worried of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful."
Sometimes I am good soil and this my prayer: "May I hear your word, accept it, and be productive so others can hear the good news of who God is, and the love He shows through Jesus Christ."
The thorns pictured above are from the Acacia, which is the same plant that produced the thorns for Christ's crucifixion crown. Check out the size of those things!
This explicitly shows how much Christ's popularity is growing. Jesus, on the boat, teaches in parables (stories of earthly things to describe heavenly things). Among these parables is a story of a farmer that scatters seed and the seed lands in a variety of environments: Path (birds eat it), Rocky places (springs to life, but gets scortched because it has no root), Thorns (prohibited the plants to thrive), Good Soil (grew and multiplied).
I wonder what condition I am in? If the seed (the word) were scattered into my life, what would happen?
I fear that sometimes I am the the "Thorns", which Jesus describes in verse 18-19, "Others...hear the word; but the worried of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful."
Sometimes I am good soil and this my prayer: "May I hear your word, accept it, and be productive so others can hear the good news of who God is, and the love He shows through Jesus Christ."
The thorns pictured above are from the Acacia, which is the same plant that produced the thorns for Christ's crucifixion crown. Check out the size of those things!