City Life Starter

Written by Stefan Johnsson

The Word

¹⁴ The sower sows the word. ¹⁵ And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. ¹⁶ And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. ¹⁷ And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.¹⁸ And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, ¹⁹ but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. ²⁰ But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

Mark 4:14-20 (ESV)

Reflection

“The sower sows the Word.”

We take this part of the passage too lightly. During the time of Jesus, it was He who sowed the Word amongst the Jews. He shared the good news and the fulfillment of prophecy that spoke about Him. Though, the hardness of heart and the inability of the Jews to see who Jesus was caused them to put Him on a cross instead of praising Him as God and the prophesied Savior.

Jesus sowed the Word and many did listen. Though, even those who witnessed the extraordinary events that unfolded during His time on earth doubted. I’m not just talking about the apostle Thomas, but many others. “and when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted” (Matt. 28:17).

God showed all of who He was and what He has the power to do…and some doubted.

God came down from Heaven! ..and some doubted.

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead! ..and some doubted.

Jesus died on the cross for our sins! …and some doubted.

Jesus rose form the grave and conquered death forever! ..and some doubted.

But Jesus never stopped to sow the Word to all who would hear. Jesus never stopped to share the good news, even to one as Judas Iscariot who later betrayed him. Jesus was in tune with the Father and trusted Him in what He did. The Holy Spirit guided Him to the conversations and people during His time on earth, even to those who wouldn’t listen.

Sowers never stop sowing because when you throw barley seed along the path, almost all of the seed is wasted. But some seed grab hold and grow and multiply. They in turn provide more seed to throw on the ground. Only one barley seed is all that’s needed to be planted in the good soil. Jesus had the eleven disciples and they in turn changed the world. How many seeds are you willing to throw on the ground?

Application

I did an Alpha group a few years ago with a close friend to reach people we knew. Alpha is an outreach tool to where you spend time to host a dinner, watch a 30 minute video about Christianity, and followed by discussion questions. It is a good way to help people open up and talk about their thoughts on Jesus and Christianity in general.

The group we ran began with about 12 people. Over the course of the 13 weeks that we hosted the discussions, people started to slowly fall away until we only had a couple left at the end. I was disheartened that we lost so many over the course of the months we hosted and sought encouragement from God. Then I came across the parable of the Sower in my devotionals and the Holy Spirit spoke to me through this. I was sowing seed with my friend and when we threw the barley seed, we experienced all the different events that Jesus described. Some were immediately snatched away by Satan, some heard the word and initially received it with joy but quickly fell away when hardships came up, others became too busy with the cares of the world, but the couple who remained took it in and even planned to do another Alpha group on their own. This was a great example for me to understand the parable and that we cannot give up on sowing seeds. Ultimately, our work is to sow and the Holy Spirit will do the rest.

Prayer

Thank You Father for giving me the opportunity to sow seeds and share the good news with those I know. Help me not to be discouraged by those who do not hear, but to be encouraged that You are always there and helping me along the way. Your Spirit will open up the hearts to the gospel and all that You ask of me is to be obedient. May I keep sowing seeds and trust You with the rest. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.