But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. 11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, 12 “so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And [their] sins be forgiven them.’ ” 13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 “The sower sows the word. 15 “And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 “These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 “and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. 18 “Now these are the ones sown among thorns; [they are] the ones who hear the word, 19 “and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 “But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept [it], and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

– Mark 4:10-20 (NKJV)

A good gardener wants plants that produce fruit! Jesus wants his word to produce fruit in the lives of people, but there are at least three things that can hinder fruitfulness. One is if you never fully receive the seed. Some people have hard hearts and are overly skeptical, not even giving the word a chance. Jesus compares these heart to those like a beaten down path unready to receive the word and making it easy for birds (who represent Satan) to come and snatch the word away before it even has a chance to germinate. We need to guard against having hard hearts and pray for the Lord to soften hard hearts like he has done with people like the Apostle Paul.

The second is one in which growth appears quickly, but the root system never goes very deep. Then when persecution comes there is nothing really holding them to faith in the Lord. Their faith was more in themselves than anything and so when trials happen they fall away. We see this in the situation of those who first received the book of Hebrews and many were tempted to leave the faith because of persecution. Or possibly the situation of John Mark where he abruptly left the company of the apostles in Acts 13 (for reasons we can only speculate about) but is later recommissioned.

The third is where the cares of this world choke out the life of the first response. In these cases it is the sad reality of misplaced priorities take over. Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24) and the soil of your heart doesn’t have room to produce both fruit and weeds. One must go. If you don’t pluck the weeds they will choke out your gospel ambitions and keep you from every producing real fruit in your life. These are like Demas (2 Timothy 4:10) who at one moment was in ministry with Paul, but has deserted him for the love of the world.

To have the world of God produce fruit in my life I need to cultivate my heart to be ready for it. When I go to hear the word I need to ask God to make sure my heart is not hard against him for any reason. I might pray for brokenness to where I am willing to receive his word. I should examine my life to see if I have anything beneath the surface that doesn’t allow the word to penetrate my heart. For the word to really take root I must have more hope in the Lord than I do in myself. Then I must also make sure my heart is free from competition. There are many things in this world that would compete for my affections for the Lord. I must take the idols I used to worship and sacrifice them to God. I must allow him to take the things in my life that don’t please him out…. and it is in this environment that real fruitfulness takes place.

Father, We love you and want to grow in knowledge of you and your word. Lord guard me from having a hard heart. I don’t want to be skeptical of things that are true. Give me grace and discernment to see the things from you and to have fruit in my life. Keep me from being content in my own ability to hold on to you and let me trust in your ability to hold on to me so when the storms of persecution happen, I am not shaken because my faith goes deep in you. Lord examine my life to see if there is any competition with you in my heart. Make me into a fruitful Christian. Prepare my heart for your word. Please guide us in your will. In Jesus Name, Amen.