I’ve been reading through the Gospel of Mark and read chapter 4 sometime ago, but the Spirit of God pointed me back to the fourth chapter to a very interesting phrase that I had overlooked.
Remember the story of the Parable of the Sower? Jesus sat down in a little boat by the seashore and talked about a farmer who dropped seeds into the soil. Some seeds fell beside the road . . . the birds gobbled them up. A few seeds fell on rocky ground . . . the sun scorched the rootless growth, and they withered and died. Other seeds fell among thorns . . . which choked out the growth so severely there was no crop to harvest. Still other seeds fell into good soil. Then Jesus explained each point.
First, He said, the seed represents "the Word." Second, the different soils represent people's varied responses to the "word." All four "hear," but not all reap a harvest. That's significant. Hearing God’s Word, and may I also say, “reading” God’s Word guarantees nothing. The results are directly related to the condition of the soil . . . not the quality of the seed. Out of the four different kinds of soil or hearts, only the fourth one brought forth fruit.
It seems clear that the first three groups had no spiritual life in them. No fruit is mentioned. Spiritual life will manifest spiritual fruit. Only one does that and that’s the fourth group.
But what I found interesting is what causes the hearts of people to jettison the Word once they hear it. For the third group Jesus mentions three things – v. 19:
1. The worries of the world
2. The deceitfulness of riches
3. The desires of other things
Jesus said that these three things entered the heart and “choked” the Word so that it became unfruitful. What Jesus listed above are thorns that choke the Word.
The word “choke” is verb that is in the plural. It looks back to the list that Jesus just mentioned. What choked the Word? Worries, deceitfulness, and desires.
The term "worry" is derived from the old German word wurgen, which means "to choke." By extension, the word came to denote "mental strangulation" and, finally, to describe the condition of being harassed with anxiety. Worry begins as a thin stream trickling through our minds. If entertained, it cuts a deeper channel into which other thoughts are drained.
“Deceitfulness” means “seduction.” This seduction is tied to believing that riches will give a person happiness, peace and security. It is all a seduction. Wealth makes promises that it cannot deliver. We become seduced and deceived when we believe otherwise.
The word “desires,” actually would be better rendered “lusts.” Jesus is not talking about a healthy desire, but desires that the bible would forbid Christians to try to fulfill. It's the picture of discontentment, the plague of pursuit: pushing, straining, stretching, relentlessly reaching, while our minds become strangled with the lie "enough just isn't enough."
And this is where the devil gets most of us. There are three things Satan uses on us: The world, riches, and things. If our mind is set on the world, we will spend our time worrying – seed choker number one. If our heart is set on riches, we will be seduced and ultimately deceived – seed choker number two. And if we are discontent with our jobs, with our spouse, with our income, with our life, with our church, we will desire for more. But more will never be enough. It never is. Thus, seed choker number three.
Here is my point: I often here this. “Pastor Rich, if preaching is so necessary, how come the church is still the same? How is it that Christians are still the same? The maturity level hasn’t change; christians still battle over the same old issues. So if preaching and teaching God’s Word is supposed to be an effective means of bringing Christians to maturity, how is it that it does not seem to work very well?”
Was anything wrong with the Sower in the way he sowed the seed in Mark 4? No, nothing wrong there. Was anything wrong with the seed? No, nothing wrong with the seed. Then what was the problem?
Here it is and do not ever let this escape you: The problem is and always will be PEOPLE’S RESPONSE TO THE WORD (the seed that is sown in their hearts). If the devil does not snatch away the Word from a person’s heart first (see Mark 4:15), and if no depth is created to hide the Word in one’s heart so as to prepare a person for afflictions, trials and persecutions (see v. 17), then it is the responses of people who worry too much over worldly things; who are seduced over riches; and who are so discontent with their lives that they seek after other things.
Please, do not ever think for one moment that preaching is outdated. Do not consider teaching God’s Word as something that is not culturally relevant. Do not let anyone tell you that what the church needs is something more than its diet on God’s Word. Away with such thoughts!
The Sower is fine. The seed is perfect. Let’s put the focus where it ought to be – our response to the Word as it is placed there in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We are to blame. We are the ones who allow “seed chokers” to enter into our lives and suffocate the Word.
So what is the remedy? Verse 20: “Hear the Word and ACCEPT it.” The word “accept” means “to acknowledge as one’s own son or daughter.” It is the idea that this in mine and no one else’s. The bottom line: “Ownership.” When we hear the Word, and accept it so as to let it take ownership of our lives, we will bear fruit and our lives will become more mature.
The problem is not in the sowing or the seed used to sow, but the soil in which the seed is sown.
You know what is one of my all time favorite and most comforting verses? Can I share this with you? It is found in Jeremiah 1:12: Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over My Word to perform it.”
That is so great! As a pastor, God often times uses me as a sower. What do I use to sow? God’s word, the seed. And when I sow it on Sundays, or any day that I am preaching or teaching, I am comforted to know that once I release God’s Word, the Lord then watches over it to perform His Word in whatever ways He purposes to do.
I sleep good at night. I don’t worry. I don’t fret. I don’t try to think of clever ways to help Christians to mature. I simply sow the Word and leave the results to God. At the end your day and mine, it is all about trusting God.
Charles Spurgeon writes:
"There is One who cares for you. His eye is fixed on you, His heart beats with pity for your woe, and His omnipotent hand shall bring you the needed help. The darkest cloud shall scatter itself in showers of mercy. He, if you are one of His family, will bind up your wounds and heal your broken heart. Do not doubt His grace because of your tribulation, but believe that He loves you as much in seasons of trouble as in times of happiness. If God cares for you, why do you need to care too? Can you trust Him for your soul and not your body? He has never refused to bear your burdens; He has never fainted under their weight. Come, then, soul! Say good-bye to anxiety and leave all your concerns in the hand of a gracious God."
