Joel M Bradshaw

1Again [Jesus] began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”…

…14The sower sows the word. 15And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.^a18And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20But 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.”–Mark 4

1. The obvious question we ask ourselves here is what soil we are. Jesus’ parable is perfect and fits his farming crowd who understood the challenges of planting and harvesting a crop in that area.
2. The seed is the Word of God. This could be the Gospel message, but also could be any teaching from the Bible that should be applied to your life.
3. Satan works against the words of Scripture. This doesn’t mean that Satan can defeat God or that evil wins, but it does communicate that when you apply the Bible in your life, this is what Satan wants least.
4. Sometimes a person begins to change biblically and then they begin to face rejection or hardship related to those biblical changes.
5. You can have ears, but not ears to hear. And if you truly hear Jesus, you put His words into practice.
6. This person sees fruit on their branches. Is this you? Is your life bearing fruit?
7. If so, is it love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? Don’t tell me how good an apple tree is if nobody ever sees apples. Take this seriously, friends.–JMB