Numbers 5-6 Mark 4:1-20

“Others are like the seed planted in the good ground. They hear the teaching and accept it. Then they grow and produce fruit—sometimes thirty times more, sometimes sixty times more, and sometimes a hundred times more.” (Mark 4:20 NCV)

As well-known as this parable is, different things strike me each time I read this. For instance, the parable begins with the sower. The sower is spreading the word of God, and, as we all know, some receive it, some don’t. Of those who receive it, some become well established while others burn out quickly or get choked by the desires of the world. Those who become well established, become sowers themselves seeing varying responses to the message, but seeing others come to receive the word of God and becoming sowers also. Sowing God’s word is a circular, ever expanding plan. What I once received, I am now called to spread.

If you make the claim to be a Christian, you should be sowing God’s word. (And when I say “you” I include myself.) Sowing God’s word will take effort. As my pastor reminds us at my church, anytime we’re involved in ministry, it takes money. The message of Jesus here is clear: if you are His follower, you will be spreading God’s word and that will be your priority in life. Make sure you’re rooted in God’s word. Don’t let the distractions of this world bother you. Spread God’s word in everything you say or do. You won’t gain great wealth, nor fame. You may get ridiculed. But that’s ok. You’ll enjoy the greatest reward imaginable when you see people’s lives changed as they begin to honor God.

Lord, let my every word and every action spread Your word and Your grace.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.