Today is Thanksgiving and I for one have a lot to be thankful for. First, I'm still relatively healthy although I am beginning to feel the aches and pains of being sixty years old instead of thirty or forty. Secondly, I have a wonderful family with a beautiful wife and six particular children, and four amazing grandchildren. Thirdly, I live in a free country that is still relatively free from the corruption of socialism and communism. So far at least. Lastly, I am a Christian with the gift of salvation in Christ, and I have a Bible that I can read and study every day.
It is the Bible that I want to highlight today in my thankfulness. I don't give thanks for my Bible all the time but I should, for it is the Word of God that gives light unto my path. Just now I was reading in Mark 4, as our Sunday School class is studying the book of Mark this year. In this chapter, Jesus teaches the parable of the sower and the seed.
It is an amazing story if we take the time to read it and listen carefully to what Jesus is saying. He tells of a sower who sowed the same seed that fell on four different types of soil. There was the path which represents ground that was packed down and trodden upon so that the seed didn't penetrate the soil, and the birds came and devoured the seed. There was the rocky ground that didn't have much soil, so the seed sprang up but it wasn't able to push down deep roots, and the sun scorched the seed and it withered away. The other seed was sown among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked the seed, and it yielded no grain. But other seed fell among good soil and it grew up and produced grain, some yielding thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold.
Jesus then went on to explain the parable, and to describe the purpose of parables. The parables are earthly stories that explain heavenly realities. They are tangible illustrations that reveal Spiritual truths. Jesus teaches us in Mark 4:11-12, "And he said to them, To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven." Here we see that Jesus references OT prophets who also spoke to people who did not hear the Word. This parable is about the power of the Word of God, to bear fruit among different types of soil.
As we read this parable we should ask ourselves if we have accepted the Word of God appropriately. Is the "soil" of our hearts packed down and hardened, so that the birds take away the Word? Is our heart shallow so that the seed does not penetrate and push down deep roots to grow from? Or is our heart filled with thorns that choke the Word from growing? Hopefully, our hearts will accept the Word and find good soil so that it can develop good roots and bear a great crop.
As Jesus explained this parable he asked the disciples a question. In Mark 4:13 he says, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?" It is the Spiritual realities of the parables that Jesus was asking if we understand. Jesus uses everyday examples of the truth that we can see and understand to illustrate Spiritual realities that we need. In this parable, it is the seed, the Word of God that makes all the difference in our lives. And he asks us, do we understand? We need to accept the Word and cultivate it in our hearts to grow Spiritually and bear fruit for everlasting life.
This is a great message of how great the Word of God can be in our lives. This is another reason why I am thankful today to have the Bible, for it to cast light upon my path and truth for my life. Let us give thanks to God for his Word and for his illumination of it in our lives. Amen.
FAITH TODAY: Mark 4:20, "But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
It is the Bible that I want to highlight today in my thankfulness. I don't give thanks for my Bible all the time but I should, for it is the Word of God that gives light unto my path. Just now I was reading in Mark 4, as our Sunday School class is studying the book of Mark this year. In this chapter, Jesus teaches the parable of the sower and the seed.
It is an amazing story if we take the time to read it and listen carefully to what Jesus is saying. He tells of a sower who sowed the same seed that fell on four different types of soil. There was the path which represents ground that was packed down and trodden upon so that the seed didn't penetrate the soil, and the birds came and devoured the seed. There was the rocky ground that didn't have much soil, so the seed sprang up but it wasn't able to push down deep roots, and the sun scorched the seed and it withered away. The other seed was sown among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked the seed, and it yielded no grain. But other seed fell among good soil and it grew up and produced grain, some yielding thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold.
Jesus then went on to explain the parable, and to describe the purpose of parables. The parables are earthly stories that explain heavenly realities. They are tangible illustrations that reveal Spiritual truths. Jesus teaches us in Mark 4:11-12, "And he said to them, To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven." Here we see that Jesus references OT prophets who also spoke to people who did not hear the Word. This parable is about the power of the Word of God, to bear fruit among different types of soil.
As we read this parable we should ask ourselves if we have accepted the Word of God appropriately. Is the "soil" of our hearts packed down and hardened, so that the birds take away the Word? Is our heart shallow so that the seed does not penetrate and push down deep roots to grow from? Or is our heart filled with thorns that choke the Word from growing? Hopefully, our hearts will accept the Word and find good soil so that it can develop good roots and bear a great crop.
As Jesus explained this parable he asked the disciples a question. In Mark 4:13 he says, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?" It is the Spiritual realities of the parables that Jesus was asking if we understand. Jesus uses everyday examples of the truth that we can see and understand to illustrate Spiritual realities that we need. In this parable, it is the seed, the Word of God that makes all the difference in our lives. And he asks us, do we understand? We need to accept the Word and cultivate it in our hearts to grow Spiritually and bear fruit for everlasting life.
This is a great message of how great the Word of God can be in our lives. This is another reason why I am thankful today to have the Bible, for it to cast light upon my path and truth for my life. Let us give thanks to God for his Word and for his illumination of it in our lives. Amen.
FAITH TODAY: Mark 4:20, "But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
