The Gospel Of MarkSample

"Parable of the soils/What’s the state of your heart?"

Jesus often told metaphor-laden parables to the crowds who gathered to listen to Him. The stories He told were like a velvet sword or riddles with teeth. His messages packed such a punch they sent some people reeling. He used similes so compelling that others couldn’t help but scoot closer to Jesus.

Later, when Jesus was alone, the twelve apostles and others asked Him about the stories. The bottom line of Jesus’ clarification of the parable in Mark 4:1-9 is that hard hearts are resistant to the seed of the Gospel, but it takes root and grows in soft hearts and leads to an exponential multiplication of divine grace.

Often we see God work in ways that may not make any earthly sense to us, but He uses them to spur spiritual growth. Paul’s divinely inspired and mercifully executed physical blinding on the road to Damascus enabled him to have clear spiritual vision. He realized that as created beings we will never be able to perfectly comprehend our Creator. Not while we’re hobbled by humanity in our sin-damaged environment anyway.

Those spiritual ah-ha moments—when we actually grasp one of His promises or apply a scriptural principle to our lives—will lead us to pursue our Savior with more and more passion. Quite frankly, I believe when we taste even a tiny morsel of the communion with the God we were created for, we’ll be ravenous for more!

Enjoying a deeper connection with our Redeemer is why I’m also learning to appreciate the plow—whatever instrument God uses to keep the soil of our soul aerated and accessible to spiritual seeds—even when it hurts. And it will. Because when the steel of God’s Word catches on a root of bitterness or becomes stuck on a stone of rebellion in our hearts, the dislodging process will be painful.

God’s plow will likely leave a deep gash in our personal landscape. But it will also tender us toward His Spirit and help loosen our love for Him and others that we may not have even realized we were withholding. If you’ve put your hope and faith in Jesus Christ, the seed of the gospel will absolutely result in good fruit growing in your life. However, the size of our fruit depends on the softness of the soil. So how about it? How tilled-up would you say your ground is now?