Our Root System

Mark 4:1-20^ESV

The Parable of the Sower

¹Again He began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. ² And He was teaching them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said to them: ³ “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. ⁶ And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. ⁸ And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” ⁹ And He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ And when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parables. ¹¹ And He said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, ¹² so that

“‘they may indeed see but not perceive,
    and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”

¹³ And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 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.”

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Let us take a moment to recount this parable and put it into perspective for ourselves.  You first need to realize that the seed that is being sown is the Word of God.  The Word is heard in every individual heart who is listening to the message of the Kingdom of God.

The seed that fell along the path in verse four represents a person with a hard heart, therefore he can not understand what he hears, and Satan immediately extinguishes it (verse 15). Their heart does not receive the Word they heard.

The seed that fell on rocky places in verse five and six had very little or no soil for any roots to grow deep enough to survive.  Therefore, although this person received the Word of the Lord, when adversities came, he quickly turned from God instead of running to Him and relying on Him for help. (Verses 16-17).  Matthew 13, TLB, gives us another version for authentication.   ²⁰ The shallow, rocky soil represents the heart of a man who hears the message and receives it with real joy, ²¹ but he doesn’t have much depth in his life, and the seeds don’t root very deeply, and after a while when trouble comes, or persecution begins because of his beliefs, his enthusiasm fades, and he drops out.   The word shallow struck me when reading this.  Shallow is defined as “of little depth” and explained well in verse 21.

The seed that fell among thorns in verse seven represents those that are attracted to the world more than the Word of God.  They live more in the natural realm than of the spiritual realm, which leads to unfulfilling and unfruitful lives (verses 18-19).  Their thoughts and desires are more for earthly success and money than living righteously for the Kingdom.

Then there is the good soil, referred to in verse eight.  No further explanation is needed when reading verse 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.”  Matthew 13:23^TLB says, “The good ground represents the heart of a man who listens to the message and understands it and goes out and brings thirty, sixty, or even a hundred others into the Kingdom.”

Why are we to be fruitful?  To enlarge the Kingdom of God, for the Glory of God!

Mark 4:9 says, “And He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

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All of these stories relate to our heart.  We need to be so rooted and grounded in Jesus that we are stable in Him, no matter our circumstance.  We then can reject all lies, confusion, offense, etc. that comes our way.  The deeper we go into the secret places with God, the more we are rooted in Him.  Head knowledge is just that, but an intimate relationship with Jesus accounts for godly wisdom.

Believing there is always room to grow, we must continue to cultivate our root system that we can be used and produce a bountiful harvest for our King.

Jesus is the light of the world and we are to replicate Him.  Mark 4:21 – “Then He asked them, “When someone lights a lamp, does he put a box over it to shut out the light? Of course not! The light couldn’t be seen or used. A lamp is placed on a stand to shine and be useful.”

A footnote in The Living Bible says, “If a lamp doesn’t help people see, it is useless.  Does your life show other people how to find God and how to live for Him?  If not ask what “boxes” have shut out your light.  Complacency, resentment, stubbornness of heart, or disobedience could be “boxes” that keep God’s light from shining through you to others.”

Our job is to know the Word of God, we are to read it, study it, apply it to our lives.  As I was traveling to a Bible Study recently, I heard in my spirit “It’s just a book club unless you apply what you learn to your life”.

We are to know the will of God.  Yes, we read and pray, but we must listen for God’s response.  Remove distractions and chaos to spend time with Him.

The Word tells us to pray without ceasing, so do that.  However, do not neglect the prayer closet.

As God speaks to you through His Word and in your prayer closet, be obedient, take action.  When God sees your obedience to Him, He gives you more, for then He knows He can trust you to do as He asks.

Since our root system is our foundation, ask yourself these questions:

• What are your thoughts and actions rooted and grounded in?
• How deep are your roots?
• Can they withstand the storms of life or will they break from the winds of pressure?

2 Timothy 2:15 – Work hard so God can say to you, “Well done.” Be a good workman, one who does not need to be ashamed when God examines your work. Know what his Word says and means.

Mother Teresa said “At the end of life, we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done.  We will be judged by, “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me, I was homeless and you took me in.””

Ephesians 3:17 – And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in Him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.

Notes: 

• Debi Ayers is the author of the book “Tea Time With God, Treasures of the Heart”
• All scriptures are taken from the ESV and TLB