Mark 4:2 Jesus 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.”
Jesus taught this story to demonstrate our choices as we hear and read the Scriptures.
We can be in the open, so birds can see the seed and eat it. The seed can fall on the rocky places that we walk and have shallow roots. Trouble easily scorches us; we wither without roots. Thorny ground chokes the seed's yield. Beware of thorny places, people and plants.
The pain of the thorns cause distractions.
Lastly, seed fell on good (fertile) ground. The yield multiplied 30, 60 and some hundred times. The difference with fertile ground is the focus is placed on growth, not gossip.
Fertile ground reflects abundance. Be mindful of those around us; do the interactions echo with increase?
Let's discard activities that detract from joy, peace and strength. Our minds, hearts and souls deserve to land on good ground. We want to be abundant and fertile in 2021.
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