Verses 4-10, “And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Then His disciples asked Him, saying, 'What does this parable mean?' And He said, 'To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that "Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.” Jesus often spoke in parables that gave earthly examples of much bigger spiritual truths. Those who are spiritually blind, will only walk away with a story, possibly confused. Spiritual blindness is a choice, and if you choose it long enough, God can confirm your will, just like he did with the Jews. It is not God's heart to hide the truth from certain people. But hardness of heart will prevent many from receiving the truth and repenting. Many will choose earthy wealth and cares of this world now over spiritual treasures later, because they lack faith that God is who He is.
The parable of the sower describes four different types of soil on which the seed may fall. The soil represents the condition of man's heart and the seed is the word of God. Some seed will be sown and it won't even have a chance to penetrate because the enemy immediately snatches it away. Other seed will be received and spring up quickly, but will not endure for lack of root. As soon as the new believer is persecuted for their beliefs or a trial hits, they will abandon those beliefs. The third type of soil, the ones that fell among thorn, is the category where I believe many born again believers fall into, although many churches no longer share the truth of the word, so there's nothing to even take root. These are fruitless Christians. They may claim to know Jesus, but they no longer obey His word. They know the truth, may have even persisted through trials and persecutions, but over time they grow weary from doing good and not seeing the reward of their labor. They trade what they know in for immediate relief and pleasure in this life. I love the way Mark writes it in Verse 4:19: “...the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”
There's only one type of soil that is good. Verse 15, “But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.” Faith and fruit bearing requires endurance. James 5:7-8, “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” We need to purpose in our hearts to endure until the end, no matter what the cost. Hebrews 12:1-2, “...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Why bother going through the motions of being a Christian if you aren't going to bear fruit, endure until the end, and make it into heaven? You might as well live your best life now, because your life later isn't looking so good. Hebrews 4:1-2, “Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.” We are cautioned to take heed to how we hear. When our hearing is mixed with faith, we will do what we hear and it will be profitable for us; but if we don't, everything will be taken away. Verse 18, “Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.”
Verses 19-21, “Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd. And it was told Him by some, who said, 'Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You.' But He answered and said to them, 'My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.' ” If you want to be in God's family, you need to not only hear the word, but also do it. Then you demonstrate that your faith is truly genuine.
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