They Hear & Accept The Word

THOSE ARE THE ONES ON WHOM SEED (GOD’S WORD) WAS SOWN ON THE GOOD SOIL; and they hear the word and accept it, and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. Mark 4.20.

I am glad you read the Bible just as I do. Many Christians do not read the Bible even though they possess it, often many copies of it! Sometimes it is difficult for you and I who read the Bible to understand it. You need the Holy Spirit, the ‘real author’ of the Bible, to help you. If you pray like King David, “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” (Psa 119.18) before you begin to read the Bible, the Holy Spirit will help you to understand.

When Jesus began to speak to the people about the kingdom of God, they couldn’t understand Him! To add to their confusion, Jesus began to speak in ‘parables’. You would have thought that Jesus did this in order to help them to understand the truth better. But on the contrary He said, ‘everything is said in parables so that they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding” (vs 11,12). The Truth is only for those who seek!

That is what the disciples did. They asked Jesus explain what they couldn’t understand! “When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables” (v.10). You too need to ask the Lord to explain to you what you do not understand when you read the Bible. You need to be alone with the Lord to give Him time to teach us! Don't run for the Bible notes or seek the opinion of others before you search the Bible in prayer!

This parable of the ‘Sower and the Seed’ is the first Jesus ever told the people. Jesus taught the disciples the meaning of the parable. He also told them they needed to understand this parable to understand all the others! It is imperative for you and I to understand this parable well for the simple reason that if we don’t, we will be like the others, “ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding”.

Jesus was teaching here, what kind of people we should be in order for the Word to thrive in our lives. We are typically of four types. 1) Like the roadside – never listens to the Word well 2) Like the rock – no interest to react to the Word 3) Like among thorns – lets worldly things choke the Word and kill it 4) Like the good soil – receives the Word and allows it to grow and bear fruit even to a hundred fold!

Dear reader, what kind of soil are you – your heart? When you hear the Word of God, whether by reading it or through someone teaching or preaching to us, ‘something must happen in you!’ Jesus told clearly what God expects of you – “hear the word and accept it, and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold”.

Early in life, I made it a point to make a mental or written note of what I hear or even read! The reason? I want to get something that will change or better my life and make me a better person! That is why I always carry a pen and a diary. Now I carry a PALM Digital Diary!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, let me ever hear the Word and accept it, and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. Help me fulfill Your expectation for me. Amen.