Mark 4:20

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 4:20

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What does good spiritual soil look like? For the past few days we’ve been talking about bad soil—distractions in our lives that keep us from God’s Word or the lies we believe in our lives that keep out God’s Word. Remember, the soil represents our lives and that the seed represents God’s Word.

Today, we’re going to talk about what good soil looks like. When we take time to read God’s Word regularly and to really digest the truths of the Bible, what begins to happen is that God uses the Bible to change our hearts. You may not realize it at first, but as you’re spending time with God and His Word, you begin to be transformed from the inside. Sometimes the change may be imperceptibly slow, but it’s happening!

As the Bible changes you, it begins to produce a spiritual crop. What’s the crop you ask? In another part of the Bible called the Book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul writes this:

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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." -Galatians 5:22-23

When we soak in God’s Word, our hearts begin to change in all of these ways. We find ourselves more loving toward others. We begin to exhibit joy even in the midst of difficult circumstances. We are able to forgive those and love those who may have wronged us. We begin to show kindness to all those around us. We have a desire to do good to help benefit the community. We stick with our friends and family through difficult times. We begin to respond gently to those who disagree with us or may have wronged us. We begin to have a greater ability to resist temptation and sin.

Good spiritual soil that allows God’s Word to grow produces a changed heart that loves God and loves people. That’s spiritual crop.

So continue to be faithful in reading God’s Word! In time, you’ll begin to see the fruit of the Spirit in your life.

Mark 4:18-19

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. -Mark 4:18-19

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What falsehoods are you planting in your life that’s distracting you from God’s truth?  Two days ago we talked about removing activities that could keep you from God’s Word.  Today we’re going to talk about how embedded lies in our lives can choke out the truth of God.

The thorns (or weeds) in this passage refer to the lies we have believed in our lives.  The seed once again is the Word of God.  By believing and internalizing these lies, it distract us from believing in the truth of God’s Word.

This passage gives a couple of examples of how embedded lies can distract us from God’s truth.  The first is if you’re someone who believes in the lie that God is not in control.  This passage calls it, “the worries of this life.”  You’re a worrywart.  Because you don’t believe that God is in control, you’re constantly worrying about things.  You worry about what college you’ll end up attending.  You worry about who you’re going to date.  You worry about everything and anything.   Believing in the lie that God is not in control or that He is not sovereign over your life naturally keeps you from the truth of God’s Word.  Why would you truth God’s Word if you don’t even trust God?

The second example of how embedded lies can distract us from God’s truth is if you believe in the lie that money and material things will ultimately satisfy you completely.  This passage phrase it as “the deceitfulness of wealth and desires for other things.”  You believe that money and stuff will solve all of your problems.  You believe in the lie that money and stuff will make you happy.  

Just a heads up, there are a lot of unhappy rich people in the world.  Money doesn’t solve your problems.  Oftentimes it gives you a bigger headache.  The rapper Biggie Smalls wrote a song called “Mo Money, Mo Problems” that speaks to this.  By believing this lie, you’re so consumed by pursuing money and stuff that you forget about the heavenly truths of God.  You’re so concerned about earthly things, why would you care about God’s Word and its heavenly message?

So now the important question: How do you remove these lies from your life?  The first is through prayer.  You ask God to help you to ignore the lies that keep you away from Him and His Word.  Everyday when I pray, I’m reminded of God’s love for me.  When I pray, I’m reminded that He alone satisfies.  When I pray, I remember that He is enough.  Prayer destroys the lies that Satan and the world wants us to believe in.

The second way we remove these lies is by scattering more of God’s Word in our lives.  Remember, these lies were once seeds, too.  A lie is but a seed that was dropped in the soil of our lives and have taken root.  We watered and nourished this lie until it’s become a weed or a thorn.  By inundating  (this means “flooding” for you studying for the SATs) ourselves with God’s Word—the seeds of truth—we don’t leave any room in the soil of our lives for seeds of falsehood.

Reading this devotion is a great start, but it could also mean reading a Christian book.  Attending church, youth group, and Harvesters and AYL where you get to hear the preaching of God’s Word are also good.  Podcast sermons and YouTube sermons are pretty great, too!  Check out our daily Communal Devotional time on Zoom to pray AND read the Bible!  Flood your life with God’s Word so there is no opportunity for lies to take root in your life.

What are some lies in your life that you need to pray against?  What are some ways you can flood your life with God’s Word to prevent lies from taking root?

John 20:11-16

11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

-John 20:11-16

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What’s the big deal about Easter?  Why is it the most important holiday in all of Christianity—even more important than Christmas?

Easter, also known as Resurrection Sunday, is the day when Christians celebrate Jesus’ authority over death.  Christians believed that Jesus was crucified on Good Friday for our sins and then three days later on Sunday, he rose from grave conquering death itself.

Jesus coming back to life is pretty incredible, but how does it affect us?  To answer this question we need to define “death” the way the Bible defines it.  We typically think of death as only physical death—our bodies dying.  The Bible defines death as our reality unraveling out of a broken relationship with God.  

Because God is God and He holds all things together, our broken relationship with God leads to death in our relationship with all other things.  Our relationship with ourselves is broken.  Our relationship with each other is broken.  Our relationship with our bodies are broken (hence physical death).  Our relationship with nature is broken. Our relationship with society is broken.  The list goes on!  All other brokenness starts from our broken relationship with God.

To be clear: Anything that’s messed up with the world can all be traced to source of death itself—a broken relationship with God.

So when we say that Jesus conquered death, what we really mean to say is that Jesus was able to fix our relationship with God—the source of all life and reality.  The resurrection allows us to be restored in our relationship with God and by extension it starts healing and fixing all our other relationships—with ourselves, with each other, etc.

If you are a follower of Jesus, the power of the resurrection has restored your relationship with God.  And as you continue to grow in your faith, the effects of the resurrection will continue to ripple through your life as God helps you to restore all your broken relationships.  This should fill you with gratitude and joy!  This is why we as Christians celebrate Easter!

If you don’t consider yourself a Christian, thank you so much for reading and keeping an open mind.  Perhaps the fact that you’re even reading this devotional is God’s way of gently knocking on the door of your heart and asking you to let Him inside.  He wants to be in a loving relationship with you.  Notice in this passage how Mary, Jesus’ friend, didn’t even recognize who he was until Jesus said her name.  Perhaps God is saying your name today.  If you want to learn more, ask a Harvesters leader or a Young Life leader.  They would love to talk with you more about what it means to follow Jesus.

Happy Resurrection Sunday!  He is risen!

Mark 4:16-17

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. -Mark 4:16-17

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Have you ever met or known someone that use to be super on fire for God and then now their faith just seems lukewarm or even non-existent?  Maybe that’s you.  Maybe at one time you were so passionate about following Jesus and now that passion is gone.  This passage is for you.

Jesus describes a person like this in his parable of the sower (someone who plants seeds).  Remember, a parable is a fictitious story teaching us an important truth.  In this part of the parable, the seed is God’s Word.  We are the soil.  If we are “rocky” spiritual soil, it can be hard for God’s Word to grow and take root.  We are passionate about God at first, but it just doesn’t last.

How do we make our relationship with God last and grow?  We need to till the soil of our hearts.  We’re not farmers so here’s a heads up on agriculture vocabulary.  “Tilling” is what farmers do to remove the rocks from the soil so that the seeds they plant can grow.  We need to do this with our lives—we need to remove the rocks in our lives that prevents God’s Word from taking root and growing.

How do we do this?  How do we till the soil of our hearts?  We need to remove things in our lives and make time to meditate, reflect, and respond to God’s Word.  If you’re reading this devotional, you’re already starting the process of “tilling” your heart.  In order for you to read this devotional, it means you’re not doing other things like FaceTiming a friend, or playing League, or watching Netflix or YouTube.  In order to do this activity of reading this devotional, you have to first REMOVE something from your life to make time for this.

Reading this devotional is a great start, but depending on where you are in your faith, Jesus might ask you to start tilling OTHER parts of your life.  He might want you to start being more involve and connected to a Christian fellowship or group.  Being part of your church’s youth group or Harvesters & AYL can help till the soil of your heart and help God’s Word to grow in you.

He might want you to ask an older brother or sister in Christ to help you through discipleship.  Having a spiritual mentor can definitely help you to till the soil of your heart.

All of these things though require you to REMOVE something that you’re doing first, because growing in God requires your time.  Reading this devotion takes time.  Coming out to Communal Devos on Zoom takes time.  Being part of Harvesters or AYL takes time.  Meeting with a mentor on a regular basis takes time.

How can you till the soil of your heart to better receive God’s Word?  What do you need to REMOVE in your life so that you have time to spend on activities that can help you spiritually?  What activities do you need to engage in to help you grow in your faith?

Matthew 27:27-61

27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.

38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”

48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

55 Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

-Matthew 27:27-61

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Jesus knew no sin. The Son of God came down from heaven to earth where he healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, fed five thousand, performed miracle after miracle, but most importantly he demonstrated and lived out the perfect love of God. Despite all this, we took the only man to have ever walked this earth without sin and murdered him like a criminal. Today on Good Friday we remember that very day that Jesus was crucified on the cross.

Despite all that he had done for everyone and all the disciples and followers he gathered, Jesus made a lot of enemies along the way. This was not because Jesus did anything wrong, but because of sin that is rooted deeply in all of us. Jesus was the light of the world and to the people that felt they weren't good enough, this light revealed that we are all worthy of receiving love from God, but to those that thought they were perfect, this light revealed that they were actually more lost in their sin than they could ever imagine.

These men refused to be humbled and instead of changing themselves they sought to eliminate Jesus. They succeeded when Judas, one of Jesus's own disciples, betrayed Jesus and they finally captured him. They did whatever they could to convict Jesus of crimes he was not guilty of and again they succeeded. They beat, mocked and tortured him like a criminal, until it was decided that his death would be carried out in the most painful way they knew how, crucifixion.

Despite how hopeless and discouraging this all may seem, we need to remind ourselves why we even call this terrible day Good Friday. We call this Good Friday because as Christians, we know how this story ends. We also know how this story began. God is sovereign and from the very beginning since the time sin first entered the world, He orchestrated his masterful plan to save us from sin that all culminated to this very moment.

"The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23) so Jesus who knew no sin took upon himself the entire sin of the world so that at this moment when he was killed, he paid the price for all our sin. Although death is not 'good', what is 'good' is that because of this death, we can now live freely from our sin and now be with our Father in heaven.

We call today Good Friday and we find solace in the death of Jesus because we know what eventually happens soon after. Yet Good Friday is remembered as a somber day and not a day of celebration because despite how it turns out, we remember how much Jesus suffered and that we ourselves are the very reason that he had to suffer.

Jesus was stripped, brutally beaten and whipped. They forced on a crown of thorns that pierced his head until blood dripped down his face and then finally they crucified him on a cross, their most painful method of death reserved for the worst criminals. This was not easy, and despite what we might think, Jesus did suffer.

I want you to think of some the difficult times that you've had in your life. Think of that moment when you were crying or hurting. Whether it was a disappointment, rejection or failure. There's a good chance that eventually things got better and you were able to move on, and if not, it will. Regardless of how many times we've seen this happen before, when we're in that moment of pain, it still hurts even if we know that it'll get better eventually.

In those moments, sometimes we just don't need someone who's going to tell us that everything's going to be okay. Sometime's we just need someone to be with us in that moment.

In a similar way, even though we know that the death of Christ isn't the end and that it's going to get better, we need to be in that moment. We remember that despite being the Son of God, this wasn't easy. Jesus really did suffer, he genuinely wished that he wouldn't have to suffer like that, but he did it anyway because in the end he knew that was the only way people like you and I would ever be saved.

So on this day we call Good Friday, remember why we call it 'good' but also remember what the cost was and that our sin is the reason that cost had to be paid.

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.

Mark 3:31-35

31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

-Mark 3:31-35

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Our spiritual ties go deeper than even our familial ties.  To be clear, Jesus here isn’t advocating disobedience or disrespect to our parents or family members.  Remember, Jesus, as a perfect person, followed the commandments of God perfectly—even the one telling us to honor our parents.  Right before Jesus died on the Cross he actually tells his friend and disciple John to take care of his mom, Mary.

What Jesus is doing here is teaching us to think of our connections with others beyond just our earthly life.  All our earthly relationships will one day end.  Even marriage which the Bible deems even more intimate than our biological ties will end one day, too.  All our earthly relationships will end when we die.  This is why the marriage vows says, “Till death do us part.”  When one spouse die they are free from their marriage vows and free to remarry actually... and one day that re-marriage will end too when a spouse dies.

Here’s another way to think of it.  When Maria and I die, we won’t be married any longer.  The Bible actually says there is no marriage in heaven.  It’s only an earthly institution.  BUT, Maria and I will be spiritual siblings for all eternity.  When we’re in the presence of God, my connection with Maria will be EVEN MORE intimate than our earthly marital connection because we would have no sin.  There will be no shame.  There will be no misunderstandings.  There will be no confusion.  There will be no selfishness.  Our spiritual ties with one another will outlast by far our marital ties.  And this is true not just for our connection with each other but also for our connections to all others who follow Jesus.

What does this mean for us?  This knowledge should compel us to evangelism—to share Jesus with everyone we know.

Jesus is inviting us to this deep spiritual connection not just with him but with everyone who is a part of his spiritual family.  He’s saying that all who follow Him will become connected to him and to one another forever in a deeper more meaningful way than they can ever imagine—deeper than even familial and marital connections.

As many of you know, I’m the only Christian in my biological family.  I love my family and I’m so grateful that I’m connected to them in a biological, genetic, and familial way.  But I long for the day when I can connect with them spiritually, because I know it will be a deeper connection that stretches into eternity.  That yearning for a deeper spiritual connection with them compels me to share with them the love of Jesus.  This is why at Harvesters we pray for their salvation every single week.

As you’re thinking and reflecting on Holy Week and how Jesus has invited you into his spiritual family, who in your social sphere do you also want to invite to be a part of Jesus’ family?  Who do you need to reach out to and pray for to be connected to God?  Would you take some time and pray for them today?