Mark Reading Plan – W4D1
Week 4 | Day 1 | Mark 4:1-20
Check out all the previous readings here.
Pray
Ask God to open your heart to His word today.
Bible Reading (read these verses three times slowly)
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. He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said:“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”
Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 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 so that,
“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’”
Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the word. 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. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 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. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 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. 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.”
Reflection & Questions
In the parable, the same seed has different results because of the soils. In life, God’s word is the same, but it’s received differently by different hearts. Jesus talks about four types of hearts:
- Unresponsive Hearts: They reject the message almost immediately.
- Fairweather Hearts: They receive God’s word, but when difficulties come, they don’t persevere, but give up their faith.
- Distracted Hearts: They receive God’s word, but ultimately, their desires are for other things.
- Responsive Hearts: They receive God’s word, and it leads to a harvest of changes in their lives and the lives of those around them.
From his descriptions of these four hearts, you can see that Jesus is looking for hearts that receive Him, endure for him, put Him first and demonstrate that in changes in their lives.
- Where’s your heart at? Have you been unresponsive, fairweather, distracted or responsive? How do you know?
- What do you need to stop doing and/or start doing?
Pray
Respond to today’s reading in prayer, talking to God about the condition of your heart and listening for His word to you.
Worship Song
As you respond to this parable, this song may be a helpful prayer:
Bible Reading
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. He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said:“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”
Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 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 so that,
“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’”
Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the word. 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. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 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. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 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. 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.”
Reflection and Questions
Today we read a parable that Jesus taught. A parable is just a story that isn’t real, but is meant to teach us a lesson through the story. In the parable, Jesus talks about a seed that is planted, but different things happen to it because of where it was planted. Think about this: are the words in the Bible always the same? Yup! No matter when or where you read it, the Bible always stays the same. But depending on who is reading it, different people will understand the words differently! Jesus talks about four types of hearts that people can have when reading the Bible:
- Unresponsive Hearts: They reject what the Bible says, and don’t believe it at all.
- ‘Iffy’ Hearts (people who kinda believe, but kinda don’t): They listen to God’s word in the Bible, but when hard things happen, they stop listening to God and do whatever they want to.
- Distracted Hearts: They listen to God’s word in the Bible, but usually they are more focused on what they want to do than what God wants them to do.
- Responsive Hearts (or open hearts): They listen to God’s word, and it leads to a change in their life and the lives of those around them. This is for sure the type of heart you want to have when reading the Bible!
- What type of heart do you want to have when it comes to reading the Bible? Why do you want that one?
- What is one thing you can do today to have an open heart when reading the Bible?
Prayer
Pray to God about what type of heart you have when reading the Bible, and ask Him for help to have the type that you want!
Bible Reading
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. He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said:“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”
Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 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 so that,
“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’”
Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the word. 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. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 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. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 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. 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.”
Devo Focus
Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. (Vs 3)
Devo
Have you read the story of the farmer who sows his seed? Each seed lands in a different location on his land. Parables like this are great because they create such a great mental picture to follow. In the parable, the same seed has different results because of the soils. In life, God’s word is the same, but it’s received differently by different hearts. Jesus talks about four types of hearts:
- Unresponsive Hearts: They reject the message almost immediately.
- Fairweather Hearts: They receive God’s word, but when difficulties come, they don’t persevere, but give up their faith.
- Distracted Hearts: They receive God’s word, but ultimately, their desires are for other things.
- Responsive Hearts: They receive God’s word, and it leads to a harvest of changes in their lives and the lives of those around them.
- Where’s your heart at? Have you been unresponsive, fairweather, distracted or responsive? How do you know?
- What do you need to stop doing and/or start doing?
Prayer
Respond to today’s reading in prayer, talking to God about the condition of your heart and listening for His word to you.
