Cares of This World

 

The Cares of This World

I am reminded in Mark 4 of The Parable of the Sower

Mark 4: 1. And again Jesus 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 thirty fold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

9 And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

10 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, 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; 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, 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 thirty fold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

Jesus begins Luke 8:18 by saying, "Then pay attention to how you listen," So Let us look closely at these types of ground.

The wayside is the path of common ground where everyone else likes to walk. It is a beaten down path as feet daily trod over it. It is a familiar place to many and people will congregate here..  Nothing good grows there because it is never cared for, dug, watered, or given fertilizer. When the word comes to this ground it easily falls away because there is no attention span to receive it. The hearer does not understand what is being shared.

1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

The stony ground is full of other things that are of little importance. The stones take up time and space but do not produce fruit. This is clutter in our lives that keeps us from spending quality time with Jesus. It may be practical things we hold dear, but do we really need them?  The seeds of the Word has no room to grow and is not producing fruit for the Lord.

2 Corinthians 6:17-18 “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.

The ground with thorns is the cares, worry and things that occupy our mind, causing it to be difficult to concentrate on God's Word. There are times we must actually pull our mind away from thoughts that swirl as we try to read, study or pray. This ground also is full of greed trying to accumulate more than we need. Money is not wrong but we must guard against the “LOVE” of money.  God desires you to prosper in all you do, but prosperity must not take first place in our lives.

Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

The Good Ground receives the word and applies it thus bringing forth good fruit.

So how can we be good ground and what exactly is good soil?

Jesus mentioned in Matthew chapter 13 that when we are good ground, we will be fruitful. Is this fruitfulness referring to only about being able to bring many to receive Jesus as their Savior? I believe that fruitfulness in this parable refers to not just evangelism but everything in our life. Yes, everything.  What soever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might and prosper.

David says in Psalms chapter 1: But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.

To have good soil, it must be sifted, removing the lumps and the rocks, and adding other material to cause the seeds to grow. There is a sifting process in our lives where God asks us to remove those things that hinder us, and he helps us by opening up our understanding of the Word which is the “Miracle grow” that waters the soil with the living water.

Reading our Bible is important to cause us to have good soil, but we can also profit by reading good books that line up with the Word of God.  This will add to our understanding so that we are able to retain what we are studying from our Bible.

Fruitfulness is Supernatural. Time spent with God is a time of preparing the soil to bring forth in abundance.   Praying in the Holy Spirit will build up your soil and enlarge your production of fruit.  Jude 1:20 Building up yourself by praying in the Holy Ghost.

Philippians 3:13-14 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.