Mark 4:1-2

Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

9 Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that,

“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’”

13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

-Mark 4:1-2

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It’s Holy Week, so maybe this week you’ve tried really hard to read the Bible on a somewhat regular basis but you’re not sure if it’s making any difference.  Maybe you’ve been reading the Bible consistently for a while and you’re not even sure if it’s having any impact on you.  It is, but slowly!

We live in a world of instant gratification.  We want things to happen instantaneously even spiritual growth.  I always chuckle when I see ads that say you can get a beach body in two weeks.  Physical transformation takes time.  So does spiritual transformation.  I was just talking about this with an AYL student yesterday—how we need to be patient with our spiritual journey.

Notice what the parable (a fictitious story to teach an important truth) compares God’s Word to.  In verse 14, it says the farmer sows the word.  God’s word is compared to a seed.

In elementary school, have you ever done a class project where you plant seeds in a cup and then watch it grow.  The seed doesn’t grow instantaneously.  You wait for a week or two and see the seed begin to sprout.  Then slowly over months the stalk starts forming and reaches for the sky.  It takes a long time for us to see a seed grow to become a tree!

The same is true for God’s Word.  When you’re reading the Scriptures, some day it’ll hit you like a ton of bricks.  Maybe today!  There’s conviction, encouragement, and transformation all happening instantaneously.  

But the reality is that those days are going to be rare.  I say this from personal experience.  Those days when God’s Word just hits you are great!  But most days, you’ll read and it doesn’t seem like anything is happening... but something is, you just don’t see it yet, because God’s Word—the seed—is just buried underneath the soil of your soul germinating and taking it’s time to grow and take root in your life. 

And yes, this passage does talk about a lot of different ways and distractions that can hinder our understanding of God’s Word, but today let’s just focus on our impatience with our spiritual growth.  Sometime we may read the Bible and think nothing is happening so we stop.  Don’t stop.  Otherwise, we’re like that first soil in verse 15 where we allow Satan to take God’s Word away from us.  That’s one of Satan’s greatest lies to us, “Hey Christians, stop reading the Bible.  Nothing is happening.”

So today I want to encourage you to keep at it!   Keep reading these devotionals!   Keep reading the Bible.  Keep scattering God’s Word in the soil of your life.  In time you will see His truth to grow like a magnificent tree transforming and blessing your life in ways you never thought possible.