Your Ground Will Determine Your Outcome (Part 1)

In Mark 4, Jesus teaches the multitude and his disciples parable of the sower:

And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. ² Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:

³ “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. ⁵ Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. ⁶ But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. ⁷ And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. ⁸ But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

⁹ And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

It is important to understand that every seed contains life. The word of God is the ultimate life-giving seed. It has the power to transform the landscape of your life. But in order for that transformation to take place, the ground of our lives must be in agreement with the seed of God's word.

To come into agreement with God's word requires more than verbal recognition but it takes work. For a farmer or gardener to see a harvest of fruit or blossoms, they must be willing to get dirty. Let's take a look at what that means for our lives.

The first type of ground that Jesus mentioned was the wayside. The wayside is a path that is trampled upon and accessible by the edge of the road. Do you sometimes feel that your life has been trampled on? Do you feel like you've given people access to your heart only to be taken advantage of?

When we give the wrong people or things access to our hearts, it can limit the growth of the word in our lives. We'll find that we're consumed with taking care of everyone else but neglecting the care of our own soul.

Make the time to read the word of God daily and allow it to take root in your life. Guard the seed that has been planted and refuse to let it be devoured!