Shade Tree Wisdom 6/5/10

Warm, and the promise is for some warmer weather for the days ahead.

Jesus taught, and “the common people heard him gladly”. Why? Well, He taught so they could clearly understand. That’s why He often used stories, or parables, to make His teaching clear.

One such story is in Mark chapter 4. It’s about a farmer out sowing his seed. And as he moves along it falls on different kinds of soil.v.14 – 15. “The farmer sows the Word. Some people are like the seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes along and takes away the word that was sown in them.” These are people who reject any Word out of hand, scoff at it, deny it and turn away.

v.16.17 “Others, like seed falling on rocky places, hear the word at once and receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away”. No root, no stamina, no lasting power, because they are not rooted in the Word.

Still others are described in v. 18.19, like this, “Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word but worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, the desire for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” This group is troubling. The thorns were already there when the word was sown. What are such thorns? Jesus says they are ‘worries of this life, deceitfulness of wealth, and desire for other things”. Such things choke the word so there is no fruit.

Jesus does not say they “Might”, choke the word, He simply says they will. These enemies of the word sneak in, they do not attack boldly from the front, they ease in. Isn’t that how worry works? We start asking, “What if”, instead of “The Lord is my Rock, and my salvation”. Please think on this.

Then there is the fourth group. Here the seed falls on good soil and bears fruit, thirty, sixty, or even a hundredfold increase.v.20.

This is the story. We can’t miss what He teaches because Jesus Himself explains it to us. I pray the story burns the lesson into mind and heart to our blessing.

GPD 6/5/10