This morning we’re looking at Mark 4:1-21, which is about the parable of the soils. Most often this parable is seen as a salvation passage. In other words, Christians are the result of seeds falling on good soil. BUT, we’re going to look at it from a different perspective today. We’re going to look at it as a daily experience for each of us who claim Christ in our life. Let me explain, every day of our lives, we encounter Christ. We encounter Him through people, our prayers, our study of the Word, or even in nature. The truth is, we encounter Christ in all aspects of life, throughout our days. The question is, do we recognize it?

This passage would say that it depends on the soil of our heart.

1. Our heart “soil” is infertile. Satan doesn’t even let us see Him in our day. We don’t recognize Him, we don’t believe, or, we’re simply indifferent to Him.
2. Our heart “soil” is rocky. We see Him, we believe, but there’s no root to it. There’s no substance to it, it’s a surface experience.
3. Our heart “soil” is thorny. We see Him, we believe and receive Him. It even takes root and grows, but then the thorns of life start to choke it out. The cares of the world; work, schedules, activities, whatever. The deceitfulness of riches chokes us, lust of other things choke us. We become ineffective.
4. Our heart “soil” is good. We see Him, we believe. It takes root and grows, it bears fruit, it thrives to the point of producing a crop thirty, sixty, or a hundred times what is sowed.

The big question is…What is the condition of our heart?

And also, what are we doing about it? If we were farmers we’d take great care of the soil we were preparing to sow seeds in. It takes thought, time and effort. We’d be tilling it, breaking up the ground, picking out the rocks, and getting rid of the weeds.

Our challenge…May each of us do whatever it takes to prepare the soil of our heart, to see Him and receive Him in our daily lives, and then to thrive and produce fruit every day.

Photo by Roman Synkevych on Unsplash