"Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.
And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."
Mark 4:3-9
The parable of the sower. :) I love parables so much. :) And one of the best things about this one is that Christ interprets it for the disciples right in this same chapter... so no murky meanings or hard-to-find application. The sower soweth the word, and sometimes we start out strong in the Gospel, and then give up on it. Sometimes we don't care for ourselves spiritually, and we forget... sometimes we let other things get in the way. And sometimes we do care about what we've been given, and nurture it until it grows abundantly... blessing not only our lives, but the lives of so many others. Good stuff. When I was reading it today though, what struck me isn't how scared I was of any of these scenarios... although they definitely can be scary when we are there. I think what scares me more though is being part of the story in a different way. Actually being the thorns, the birds, the stones in the ground, or the scorching sun. Getting in the way of someone else's faith. Being an obstacle or an impediment to someone else feeling the spirit. Setting a horrible example and being the excuse that anyone uses to leave the church, or to stop talking to God. ... Obviously people have personal responsibility for their actions, and I am not trying to take anyone's responsibility for his or her own life and hand it to another... but at the same time, we definitely affect each other, and I would hate so much to be the pit that someone else fell into or the painful lesson at the center of someone else's hardest moment.
Today, as we're trying to avoid the rocks and the birds and make sure that our testimonies are healthy and growing... let's make sure that we are also nurturing and loving the people around us. Let's not be the thorn in anyone's day, or life, or connection with God.
And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.
And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."
Mark 4:3-9
The parable of the sower. :) I love parables so much. :) And one of the best things about this one is that Christ interprets it for the disciples right in this same chapter... so no murky meanings or hard-to-find application. The sower soweth the word, and sometimes we start out strong in the Gospel, and then give up on it. Sometimes we don't care for ourselves spiritually, and we forget... sometimes we let other things get in the way. And sometimes we do care about what we've been given, and nurture it until it grows abundantly... blessing not only our lives, but the lives of so many others. Good stuff. When I was reading it today though, what struck me isn't how scared I was of any of these scenarios... although they definitely can be scary when we are there. I think what scares me more though is being part of the story in a different way. Actually being the thorns, the birds, the stones in the ground, or the scorching sun. Getting in the way of someone else's faith. Being an obstacle or an impediment to someone else feeling the spirit. Setting a horrible example and being the excuse that anyone uses to leave the church, or to stop talking to God. ... Obviously people have personal responsibility for their actions, and I am not trying to take anyone's responsibility for his or her own life and hand it to another... but at the same time, we definitely affect each other, and I would hate so much to be the pit that someone else fell into or the painful lesson at the center of someone else's hardest moment.
Today, as we're trying to avoid the rocks and the birds and make sure that our testimonies are healthy and growing... let's make sure that we are also nurturing and loving the people around us. Let's not be the thorn in anyone's day, or life, or connection with God.
Ooooo. Good point! I never thought of that!
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