Do You Want To See Exponential Growth?
Verses of the Day
Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”
Commentary
Jesus taught three parables in Mark 4. They all had one thing in common He spoke about “the seed”, which Jesus tells the disciples is the word of God.
It is very important that you know the Greek word Jesus uses for “the Word” is logos. The word “logos” is where we get the term “logic”. Logic helps us to make sense of something. When you explain something well to someone they say that sounds logical
Logos is found in words like “psychology, “sociology”, and “theology. They are the study of the “psyche”, “social norms”, and “God”.
So when Jesus says the “seed” means the “word”, he is saying it is the Good News of everything we can know about God. He also calls this the “kingdom of God”. You could also say it means the truth about God This is why we call it the “Word of God”
And, of course, we remember in John 1:14, the gospel writer says, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. This we know is Jesus. Jesus was the Word of God which came down in human form. We call this the “incarnation”.
So since this parable is all about a sower who sowed the seed, by analogy it could be someone who preaches or teaches the Word of God
Though the sower sowed the same seed liberally in all directions, there was only one type of soil that received it, allowed it to take root, and it bore fruit in multiples of 30,60, and 100. In the other three soils the seed never did what it was intended to do … bear fruit
In the three types of soil that did not bear fruit, either the seed did not take root or something stopped it from bearing fruit. You can read Jesus’ explanations to the disciples as to why three of the soils bore NO FRUIT.
But what we do know about is why did the fourth soil produced a prodigious amount of fruit. The seed received the word, it took fruit and bore 30,60, and 100 times over.
Afterwards Jesus told the disciples the “secret” of this parable. The seed was the Word of God and we are those who hear the Word of God, understood it and accepted it into their lives. The question is which soil will we be?
If we are disciples of Jesus do we not only hear the Word and understand it, but do we apply it in our lives. You see lots of Christians hear God’s Word and maybe even understand it, but are they applying it in their lives.
My prayer is that as you read God’s Word, this blog may help you to understand it better. But the most important thing is are you putting into practice.
Application
Paul says in Galatians 5:22, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” If you are demonstrating these character qualities, the Word of God is bearing fruit in and through you
Secondly, you will notice the growth in the fruit bearing seed is exponential, 30,60, or 100 times. This shows us that when God’s Word is heard, understood, and practiced we as a church are going to grow exponentially.
Just look at the exponential growth of the church in the book of Acts. In a single day it grew from 120 to 3,000. Within a short of time it grew to 5,000. 2,000 years later, billions of people have come to know Jesus through the preaching of His Word, the gospel. But we still have work to do as there are still billions that don’t know him
Friends, let’s be those who hear God’s Word, understand it, and put it into practice. The results will be awesome!
Jesus, you are the Word made flesh. As we hear about and learn from you, may your Word dwell in us richly so that we may bear much fruit. Fruit that will last. Amen.
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