October 28, 2015 (Wednesday)
This evening at Bethel Baptist Church, Ingleside, we will study Mark 4:1-20, which tells us of Jesus’ fondness for teaching in parables and gives us a sample parable.
The first parable recorded by Mark in his gospel is about the kinds of soil that existed where a farmer planted his crop. Some of the seeds fell on the side of the road; the soil 
was hard so birds came quickly and ate them. Other seeds fell on shallow, rocky soil, and without depth the seeds sprouted quickly; without roots, however, the plants died almost immediately. Other seeds fell among thorn bushes that choked the life out of them. But, thankfully, some fell on good ground and grew well, producing a great crop.
Jesus later explained the meaning of the parable to his disciples: “What the farmer is spreading is really the message about the kingdom. The seeds that fell along the road are the people who hear the message. But Satan soon comes and snatches it away from them. The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it right away. But they don’t have any roots, and they don’t last very long. As soon as life gets hard or the message gets them in trouble, they give up. The seeds that fell among the thorn bushes are also people who hear the message. But they start worrying about the needs of this life. They are fooled by the desire to get rich and to have all kinds of other things. So the message gets choked out, and they never produce anything. The seeds that fell on good ground are the people who hear and welcome the message. They produce thirty or sixty or even a hundred times as much as was planted” (Mark 4:14-20 CEV).
We should not be surprised when people seem to reject the gospel message. Jesus explained the reasons. Some are just not really listening; they’re thinking about something else. Others say they believe but they haven’t thought it through and are unprepared for the hard times of life, so they give up because their faith isn’t real. There are some who seem to believe but have other things on their minds, like getting rich, that cause them to forget what they heard about the kingdom of God.
Some hearers think it through and have genuine faith. The message takes root in their hearts and they are committed to Christ and the gospel message. Their lives are changed and they live in a way that demonstrates the reality of their faith. We are encouraged to keep on sharing the message because of those who accept it and commit themselves to the living Christ.