Mark 4:14-20 the Gospel Seed and Your Heart

Mark 4:14-20

20 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

The parable of the seed sower comes in two parts in every gospel it is written in. Jesus tells His followers, the seeds are just thrown everywhere and it falls on different soil and each either grows or dies. When Jesus finished the first part of the parable His followers were puzzled as to what Jesus’ short story meant.

Luke 8:9 His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant. 10 And He said, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

The seed the sower is casting out is the word of God, the gospel good news. In  my previous lesson I explained how  the soil is basically the people of the world’s heart. The person’s  relationship with the Lord will either grow strong and purchase crops for the sower to see. The poor soil is the heart of a person who rejects God’s word and is simply temporary. Personally, I have seen a lot of different types of believers of the Lord in my life, and I see the effects of the word of God in someone’s life and how it affects them. If a Christian is a good consumer of God’s word, they are very strong in his or her faith.The part time Christian or believer of God, seems to only pray, when a lump of mud hits the fan or when they finally had enough and give up somehow.  Now there are 2 types of cultivators in the parable of seed sower. In each gospel one cultivator has three different names. Matthew 13:19 calls him the evil one, Mark 4:16 calls him Satan, and finally Luke 8:12 calls him the devil. Even if there is no parable in the gospel of John, chapter 8:44 calls him the father of lies that causes death, so it’s no wonder why the seeds he gets involved with eventually die quickly. Just like the Lord keeps an eye on the world like a farmer watches in the garden, the devil knows when the seed of God is planet in someone’s heart and he says to himself, hell no, you can’t have him or her. So he moves in real quick, starts to make it a little more difficult. Some when they hear the word of God and hear how it brings joy and the true meaning of life, the devil reminds them very quickly, being a Christian isn’t a bed of roses, in fact is like walking through the thorns of a rose garden and coming out very bloody. The evil cultivator  whispers in their ear saying  you are not worthy of the Lord’s love and you will never amount to anything or make it to the kingdom of heaven. He  continues by saying live by what is right in your own eyes, be happy and be merry and finally die with as many toys as you can. Whatever you do, don’t go to church and worship God, cause the building is full of hypocrites. That is the summary of how Satan kills the gospel seed, in a person’s heart who has no hope and lacks faith, of those who say I need my blessings here and now,  temporary as  Mark 4:17 says. Tomorrow I will teach about the good soil of a believers heart and their good cultivator. God bless you all, the Lord loves you and so do I. Samuel H

Psalm 37:35 I have seen a wicked, violent man Spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil. 36 Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more; I sought for him, but he could not be found.