Increase to Increase | Mark 4:1-9
Tuesday | September 29, 2020 |
Mark 4Increase to Increase
By: Hannah Massa
Mark 4:1
Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and ca hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
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There are so many different ways in which we sow seed. Jesus explains that “the sower sows the word” (Mark 4:14), so we know that seed = word. I remember as a child hearing this verse, and other verses like this one, and thinking that it just meant preaching. Obviously, whoever is preaching is sharing the word, so that must be how it’s done!
Funny how we can be right and wrong at the same time.
Sowing the word can look different every day. Sometimes it’s taking a friend out for lunch who has felt a little lonely and needs a good laugh. It’s spending an extra 10 minutes in bonding/playing with your kids. It is using the gifts that you have to diligently bless others. Also, it’s preaching, and letting The Lord speak through you into the lives of others. Planting those seeds sounds simple enough, but seed doesn’t always come back how we expect it to. As we see in the key scripture above, the results are not consistent. Even when the seed fell on good soil, it did not all yield a hundredfold.
You are called to go from glory to glory. From increase to increase.
I want to draw a line here to help us understand where the difference lies. The difference is that we don’t look to our surroundings or our “seasons” to tell us when or what to sow. We also cannot rely on them to tell us when we will reap a harvest. The only way to do be successful in any capacity is to make The Lord our foundation and focus. By keeping our eyes, our minds, and our hearts on Him. 2 Corinthians 9:10 says this, “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.”
Let me encourage you today, that Jesus did not intend for you to have unanswered prayers. Just as the crop yielded thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold, so you are called to go from glory to glory. From increase to increase. And I 100% believe that when we look to Him, He will provide all that we could ever need; indeed, all that we could ever want.
AuthorHannah Massa
