Tag: parable

Three Things That Work Against Fruitfulness (Mark 4:10-20 Devotion)

On By pastorjonathanIn DevotionalLeave a comment

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.

Growth Vs. Fruit (Mark 4:1-9 Devotion)

On By pastorjonathanIn DevotionalLeave a comment

And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat [in it] on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. 2 Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching: 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 “And it happened, as he sowed, [that] some [seed] fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. 5 “Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. 6 “But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. 7 “And some [seed] fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 “But other [seed] fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” 9 And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

– Mark 4:1-9 (NKJV)

When you plant a tomato plant, what are you looking for come time for harvest? Tomatoes! When you plant a pepper plant? Peppers! When you plant any sort of garden plant, the purpose is to produce a harvest! Gardeners don’t grow plants for growth sake, but they grow plants to yield a harvest. There are all sorts of things that can stop a plant from reaching maturity and producing fruit. In today’s passage we see some problems with a harvest begin with the type of soil where a seed is planted.

A problem in the soil is a problem for a plant being able to produce fruit. It is sufficient for today to remember that the goal of planting is not growing alone, but is for harvesting! A wise farmer prepares the soil for a good harvest.

Growth alone is not a good indication of a harvest. There are three types of soil in the parable where seeds sprout and grow in some sense, but only one soil produces the harvest! In our lives we can experience what we might call growth and that can be exciting, but we must be intent on seeing it cultivated into fruit. We might be able to grow in all sorts of ways, numerically (if we’re talking about a church), educationally (we might know more about the bible today than we did yesterday), passionately (if we’re talking about our enthusiasm for all things related to Jesus), but these things don’t always transform into real and lasting heart change exhibited in loving God and loving others.

If our lives are the soils mentioned in this parable (and we trust that they are as we read ahead in Mark) then we need to cultivate our life in such a way that when we receive the word of God, it produces fruit in our lives. We can’t be content with a measure of growth that produces anything but fruit.

Father, We love you and want to grow in knowledge of you and your word. Thank you for the power that your word has to transform our lives. We want to be fruitful Christians. We are excited by every step of growth that we see in our own lives, but help us not to be content with growth alone, but to see fruit. If there are things that need to change in our lives, please change them so that we can be more fruitful for you! Please guide us in your will. In Jesus Name, Amen.