15 Friday 03-13
Mark 4:1-9
1 Again he began to teach beside the sea.
Such a very large crowd gathered around him
that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there,
while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.
2 He began to teach them many things in parables,
and in his teaching he said to them:
3 “Listen! A sower went out to sow.
4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and the birds came and ate it up.
5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil,
and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil.
6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched;
and since it had no root, it withered away.
7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it,
and it yielded no grain.
8 Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain,
growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
9 And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”
The seed, the Gospel of Christ, is to be spread everywhere.
The hardened soil on the beaten path offers no purchase,
the stony ground has neither soil nor water for nutrition,
and the thorns are the concerns of the everyday life,
which overshadow the power of the Word.
The good soil is those who receive the Word with good and open hearts,
is fertilized regularly with scripture and prayer,
and thus produces for the kingdom of God.
Which soil are you?