"We shall individually be held responsible for doing one jot less than we have ability to do...But when we give ourselves wholly to God, and in our work follow His directions, He makes Himself responsible for its accomplishment. He would not have us conjecture as to the success of our honest endeavors. Not once should we even think of failure. We are to cooperate with One who knows no failure." ~Messages to Young People, p. 309

Monday, May 9, 2011

Blogging Through The Gospels: Mark 4

Good morning, everyone! Today's chapter is Mark 4, and is all about Jesus' parables. In my SOAP today I'm going to focus on the Parable of the Sower.

Scripture:

"Others are sown among thorns; the worries of this age, the seduction of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." ~Mark 4:18-19

Observation:

I think we all know the Parable of the Sower. There's this guy who goes out to plant some seed in his field. The seed falls on various types of ground--the path, the rocky ground, the thorns, and finally the "good ground". The seed only produced crops on the "good ground".

After Jesus told this parable to the general public, Jesus' disciples came to him in private. They asked him to explain the Parable of the Sower. So Jesus did, revealing why the seed--or word of God--could not grow the path, rocky ground, or thorns. I suppose most people would focus on the "good ground"  in an article like this, but I'm going to talk about the thorns here. Let's read our Scripture again.

"Others are sown among thorns; the worries of this age, the seduction of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful."

I don't know about you, but when I read these verses bells started going off in my head! Worries. Wealth. Other things. That sound like 21st century America, anyone?!?


Application:

We live in such a crazy culture and endure such hectic schedules that it's very easy to forget about God. Worries, wealth, and other things just always seem to take priority. We need to put God first. Remember the 10 Commandments?

"Do not have any gods besides me" ~Exodus 20:3

The second commandment expands on this idea by telling us not to have any idols. And idols aren't just statures of wood, metal, or stone. They can be anything that takes the place of God. For example, worries, wealth, and other things! And when we do put God first, he will supply all our needs (see Matthew 6:33). Put God first!

Prayer:

Dear God, help me to put You first in my life. Amen.

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P.S.--To learn more about this blogging-through-the-gospels program, or if YOU would like to join yourself (you're more than welcome-jump right in!!) go to: http://www.momstoolbox.com/
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