Mark 4:10-20

1. Position yourself to hear God

 

2. Pore over the passage and paraphrase the main points

 

3. Pull out the spiritual principles

 

4. Pose the question

 

5. Plan obedience and pin down a date

Mark 4:10-20New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. ¹¹ 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 ¹² so that,

“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
    and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’^[a]”

¹³ Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? ¹⁴ The farmer sows the word. ¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; ¹⁹ 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. ²⁰ 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.”

 

 

Paraphrase

 

• Jesus explained the purpose of parables
• The seed is sown by the farmer and some people are like the seeds
• Satan can steal the word that has been sown
• The seed sown on the rocky ground has no foundation and people give up when hard times come
• The seeds sown amongst the thorns is choked by the cares of this world
• The seed sown on the good soil, hears the Word, accepts it, bears fruit and it multiplies

 

Principles

 

• Be a sower of the Word
• Satan wants to steal the seeds that are planted
• Unless the seeds have a sure foundation there will be no growth
• Don't be choked by worldly things
• Ensure the seed is planted where it can grow and bear fruit

 

Questions

 

• Am we letting Satan steal the seeds that are being sown?
• Do we give up when hard times come?
• Do things get in the way of what God is sowing in our lives?
• Are we obedient to His Word and let is bear fruit in our lives?