Week 2: “Soil”
This weeks passage is a little different. Since this is a longer passage. I’ve broken up the devotional into parts for you to focus on for each day in your week.
Set the Space
Before reading this Devotional, take a moment to tune into the Spirit.
Get comfortable where you are sitting. Feel free to light a candle or close your eyes.
Take a few deep breaths and focus on the movement of the air gently expanding and contracting your lungs. Be still and know that this is the Spirit rushing through you.
When you are ready, turn to Mark 4:3-9 and read part of our passage for this week.
“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.” (Mark 4:3-9)
Think About It
In Mark 4:11-12, Jesus gives the reason why he often spoke to large crowds in parables. He says,
“so that, “ ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’ ”
Jesus, the Master teacher and Creator, knew that a certain type of internal environment needed to be created for the message to be received. We see him illuminate this point in the parable of the Sower. Here, Jesus describes the different environments his word will land in. It is important to recognize that the seed representing the word of God is absolute. It is the soil’s job to create an environment conducive for the seed to grow.
Day 1: The Birds
Jesus describes that some seed that fell along the path was eaten by birds almost immediately. Later in verse 15, Jesus explains that this represents how, for some, Satan can come and take away the word when it is sown. I would always read this verse and think of some cartoon devil tiptoeing around and plucking up seeds on the path. But what Jesus is describing is a much more common reality.
In Hebrew, “Satan” is a title that literally translates to “the accuser”. It’s a title for anything in opposition to something else.
What I believe Jesus is addressing is this: insecurity or accusation is a deterrent in receiving the Word of God. When you hear what God has to say about you, it can sometimes feel like there is a gap between where you are and what God is seeing. This is because God is describing that treasure that’s underneath the surface; the Christ in you that you only see glimpses of. When we try in our own strength to change ourselves behaviorally, without addressing deeper need, you are left feeling like an imposter.
“Who do you think you are doing this?”
“It’s always gonna be like this!"
"Why bother?”
That’s the Accuser plucking up your view of the new self. But here’s what I noticed about this passage. In verse 4 Jesus said the seed fell “along the path” and that it was exposed enough to be “eaten by the birds”. The seed hadn’t been planted! It was just on the surface level! And as long as you keep the word at the surface level, it will never have the depth to take root and the protection to not be plucked away. It’s got to get in you!
Think about the dirt covering the seed. The Accuser might try to use that dirt he has on you to make you feel invalidated and give up on the glimpse of the new self God sees. But God can use some of that dirt, some of what you’ve been through, to protect that seed deep inside of you. That’s part of God’s grace at work. The Word of God has a chance to flourish when it interacts with your dirt! The devil can’t dig! He’s got to stay at the surface!
Day 2: The Rocky Places
Jesus said that seeds fell on rocky places and quickly shot up but were scorched by the sun. While explaining this portion of the parable, Jesus makes the case that the appearance of growth isn’t a great indicator of the depth of growth. Enthusiasm is only as good as it’s effectiveness. You can be excited about the word of God but it’s result in your life will only be realized in it’s application. The Word will bring about resistance to the comfort of the hearer and be quickly abandoned.
This tells me a few things about the type of person Jesus is describing in these passages. Let’s think of the rocks as someone who has experienced a lot of trauma; so much so there is little soil amongst the petrified pain. Hardships can often lead us to have hardened hearts. This is our way of protecting ourselves from experiencing anymore pain. But the gift of God is that he still showers us with his Word; the seed is still sown even in the rocky place. However, because of this hard spot, the soil is “shallow”. When we receive the word as we experience hardship in our lives, we are often presented with a choice to push deeper through pain and create roots (perseverance) or shield ourselves and only produce on a shallow level (avoidance). Avoidance never brings true peace, just the false sense of peace. When we choose to ignore a problem, that doesn’t mean it goes away. Often the problem can become worse because we have allowed it to fester under the surface.
The person Jesus is describing seems to resonate with what is being said. The seed sprouts up quickly. “God’s word is true! What he has for me and says about me is great!” But even in this state, we can become so focused on what is in God’s hands that we can ignore what is in ours. We can expect God to move and for us to just sit back and receive the miracle. We can forgo receiving counseling, therapy, or medical help. We can not take medication or begin a process of repairing relationships. But, Jesus isn’t a janitor! Despite our pain and trauma, we are being asked to participate in our own deliverance. The true stamp of having faith isn’t that you believe God will move, but that you will move trusting in God’s guidance.
The Parable tells us that the seed of the word of God can’t grow until it grows deep roots. When we are more concerned with a faith that produces “quick results”, we lack the infrastructure of a contemplative life that lends us the compassion and mercy we need to approach a weary world.
Day 3: The Thorns
In a world plagued by scarcity, it can be very easy to live out of the mindset of the thorns. By the thorns, Jesus is describing those who hear the word and resonate with it. In fact, roots grow deep into them and it is evident that they are really practicing what was said. But concerns for themselves and other desires slowly choke out the word that was spoken. I feel like this is where a lot of people fall today.
Now, a little disclaimer: I’m not saying that as another person “church-bashing” or talking about how “we aren’t doing enough”. Even though there is an overwhelming amount of religious trauma we need to address, the Church is still God’s primary way of building the Kingdom. I’m also not “world-bashing” and saying “people are to into their identities today”. Precisely, what better question to ask then, “Who am I” and “how can I make the world a more accessible place for everyone”. What I am saying is that we cannot confuse our personal agendas with the word of God.
Whenever I have heard this parable talked about, the thorns are usually equated to greed. That’s usually because Jesus mentions “deceitfulness of wealth” when breaking down this part of the parable. But what about the “worries of this life” or “the desires for other things [that] come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful”? We can so easily make the God’s word into something that it was never intended for. But doing so, it is no longer “sweet like honey” but an unfruitful offense to those who need to hear it. I had a New Testament teacher in college tell us once, “when you read the Bible, read it with yourself in mind; not others”. What is God telling YOU?
During Jesus’ earthly ministry, crowds would flock to him; one time even trying to crown him king; but Jesus wasn’t here for that (John 6:14-15). The thorns represent the desires and concerns that choke out God’s word. Jesus was the Word made flesh. He took the concerns the crowds had to make him a political leader and the desires the disciples had for messianic greatness and crucified them. Woven around his head as he enacted his real purpose for coming was a crown of thorns. Almost as a way of saying, your desires for other things and worries of this life are powerless in the face of the purpose God has. This was not in a scary or spiteful way. Your desires are a tool into discovering your purpose. But by taking our thorns to the Cross and leaving them there when he rose again, Jesus displayed his power over them; that God has bigger things in mind.
Take With You
“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)
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.” (Luke 1:38)
God saw Mary as good soil to bring Christ into the world. When the Angel Gabriel appeared to this young bride, she said yes to God’s will even though she was scared. Not only had this other worldly figure announced to her that the hopes of the nation’s salvation would finally be fulfilled through her but also that she would be pregnant. This would have been quite the unsettling news for many reasons.
Being engaged to Joseph, she could have been stoned for appearing to be unfaithful to him. This would have shamed her family and given that the dowery would have been paid, Mary’s family would have been in debt to Joseph’s family.
The overall physical pain of being pregnant – the cramps, the morning sickness, the slowing down, the fatigue. Mary would have had to endure the transformation of her body shifting to contain the Word being made flesh.
Who would believe that an "Angel of the Lord" had appeared to her?! In many Biblical time period charts, it marks that for 400 years before this God had not spoken a new word. This is often called the “age of silence”. Whether that’s true or God was working in other ways, I don’t know. But what would compel anyone in Nazareth to believe that God had broken his silence to Mary from down the street who appeared to be with child during her engagement?
But, despite all of this, Mary says yes. She says, “I am the Lord’s servant” which, in light of our parable, almost sounds like “I am simply good soil for the Lord to plant in”. Mary was more concerned with being available for God now than allowing all the logistics of what would happen stop her from moving in faith. May we do the same as we carry the Christ in us each day. May we make ourselves available ground (good soil) for God to till, plant in, and harvest from.
