Parable of the Sower Part 2 - Mark 4:1-20

People who are like good soil...

- They hear and continue to hear! They meditate on it, abide in it! They hear the word and keep hearing it.

- They accept the word, welcoming the whole counsel of God, and keeping it. They don't want the word on their own terms... they adhere to its hard truths, trusting its veracity even if it doesn't agree with our human understanding.

- They bear fruit! Good works do not equate to salvation. But good works arise as the fruit of our salvation! Accepting his word brings such growth into our lives.

God alone determines the quality of the soil. We can't change the soil of those listening, we can only spread the seed, but we can pray to the Lord of the soil to change the soil! So we pray, and sow as if he has changed it. God does the landscaping. We simply share his word. He can handle the big problems!

Jesus is the chief sower. We read the word to learn about God, and our roots will be as deep as our understanding of him. In Mark 3:7, the crowd following Jesus was a microcosm of the whole earth; Jesus teaches them as the chief sower, sowing to the whole world... even those who are not good soil. And Jesus keeps sowing! He stays faithful, even when his basic needs aren't being met.

The will of God is to sow the Word! Even in his humanity, he didn't abandon that call. He never quit on us because of his great love for us! He made us good soil, then sowed seed to us, because he's good, and he's loves us!

Psalm 148 - praise the Lord!