Hearken: Behold, the sower went forth to sow:  and it came to pass, as he sowed, some seed fell by the way side, and the birds came and devoured it.  And other fell on the rocky ground, where it had not much earth; and straightway it sprang up, because it had no deepness of earth:  and when the sun was risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.  And other fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.  And others fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing; and brought forth, thirtyfold, and sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. (Mark 4)

As I have said earlier, my pastor has challenged me to do a study in the life of Christ;  I am now in the book of Mark.   As I read, I keep notes of things I learn, or things that come to my mind. Here are some of my notes from the first few verses of Mark 4.  (Of course, this is just what I got out of it this morning;  it’s applied to what is going on in my life right now; I know I’m not maintaining my spiritual life as well as I should.  If I study it again in 6 weeks, I will get a different message from it, because it will apply to that time as well.  I hope you can get something out of it as well )

As a young person when I read this parable, I felt bad for the seeds that didn’t land in the right spot, because they didn’t have a chance to ‘do well’, but I see now that it’s about choices.

I’m picturing my front yard if we reseeded it:  the grass seeds that falls on the bricks or walking areas of the yard are going to have a harder time coming up because there’s nothing to dig into. That’s  like someone who hears God’s word, and it sparks something in them,  but they don’t take time to try to ‘get’ it. The birds come and eat that seed up; that person lets other things take them away from the Word that is pulling at them.

The seed that falls on rocky dirt is the person who gets really excited about a message, or maybe they hear something from God; they are all about being on the mountaintop with God, but they don’t want to have to go through the valleys with Him (or to let Him go through the valleys with them, either). They are so flighty they don’t let themselves get grounded in the word of God, so the first time they go through something tough, it pulls them away from God, or they give up on Him. That mountaintop experience is great, but the valleys are where we learn to lean on God.

The seed that falls among thorns are the ones who hear God’s word, but they don’t make the effort to spend time among other Christians, for fellowship and for studying God’s word and for listening to messages from God. They think they have what they need within themselves and don’t need regular fellowship with other Christians. They get their feelings hurt and stay away from church. Or they just stay so busy doing other things, that they find it hard to make time to spend with God.  Then when the thorns come up around them, they don’t have the back up of other Christians to keep them from getting choked out.

The seed that falls on good ground are the ones who study the Bible regularly, go to church to hear the word preached, stay in contact with other Christians, pray daily and hourly. By staying in contact with other Christians, they help each other to  stay accountable. Helping someone stay accountable  doesn’t mean you’re watching him or her to be sure they behave, or to get on them when they don’t – that means you’re there for each other. If you are my Christian brother or sister, and I know you’re going to be around me,  maybe that will help me not to do something I shouldn’t. And maybe I can do the same for you.  Because these Christians are constantly working at staying close to God, praying, studying, worshiping, keeping themselves accountable, they will produce much fruit.

I know going to church doesn’t make you a Christian; somebody can go to church all their life and still go to Hell when they die. Again, it’s about choices… you choose whether you’re going to Heaven or not, according to whether you’re going to serve God or not. But going to church and staying in fellowship with other believers is important, too.  Most people wouldn’t even think about running a car for months with no maintenance;  but some folks will go months without any kind of maintenance on their spiritual life.  No, you don’t have to be in church every time the doors are open… but we feed our physical bodies regularly – why in the world do we think we don’t need to feed our spiritual bodies regularly as well?

Mat 27:25  “And all the people answered and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.”

I came across this verse the other day, in my study.  How prophetic those words were! The people who were asking Pilate to crucify Jesus said that His blood would be upon them, and their descendants.

And it’s true in more ways than one: either they refused to believe Jesus, and the blood of his death was on them; or they repented and the blood of his grace was on them.

Three pastors were talking about prayer as they walked down a dusty road; each had his own opinion of the best way to pray.

One pastor, who was young and not too long out of seminary, said, “I have been taught to approach the throne of God as a young child approaches his loving Father – eyes open and looking up, arms reaching out in love.”

The second pastor was a few years older, and had already led several churches. He said, “Well, I  always believed it best to approach God as a humble servant approaching a mighty King: eyes down, on my knees, recognizing that He holds my life in His hands.”

The third pastor, who was much older than the other two, had served several churches. He smiled as he walked a few more steps; the two other men looked at him. He turned to look at them, and said, “I don’t know about you two, but the best praying I ever did was hanging upside down in a well.”

I believe there’s a sermon in there somewhere.

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