(Mark 4:1-9)
A large crowd had gathered around Jesus by the sea and he began to teach them. He taught them about the parable of the sower beginning with the words, “A sower went out to sow…” This is an interesting parable in many ways and there is much we can learn about people and their walk with the Lord from this lesson. He gives the meaning of the parable to the twelve disciples shortly, so I will leave that for another post. In this post I will discuss some other things I have seen in this message.
How many people will come to the Lord? No-one knows the exact number but from this parable we see that not all people will be saved. Many will receive the word of God but for various reasons they will eaither not listen or it will be taken away from them. This is to be expected for here in this teaching the Lord has told us so.
Who will listen and who will not listen has not been given for us to know. This message tells us that there will be some who appear to be on fire after hearing the word but the fire dies and they fade away. It is only the Lord who knows the heart of a person and who will take the word to heart.
The process of sowing the word of God can be hit and miss. If we consider the way that seed was sown in the Lord’s day, it was thrown out by hand and not all of the seed fell in fallow ground. Even the seed that did fall in fallow ground did not always produce a hundredfold. It is the same with those who come to the Lord.
What is most important for each of us is to first accept the word of the Lord and take it to heart so that we may bear fruit. When or if we have the opportunity to sow the seed of God’s word to others, recognise that not all who hear the word will accept it. This is the essence of this teaching. Some will hear and accept, others will not. Those who do will produce the fruits of righteousness and bear fruit in their lives. Those who do not will be lost.
Hi! I’m John, the owner, author, and editor of this site. Over the past 50+ years as a Christian I have been teaching, preaching and writing about the Bible to help Christians gain a deeper insight into the scriptures that are easily understood. I also answer specific Bible related questions, so feel free to contact me.
