Hear! Speak! Do!

This is going to be short and to the point!

Mark 4:3-25 is the parable (or story) that Jesus told about the sower and the seed. The upshot is this:

• The “sower” is someone who spreads the word of God around (like a preacher or chaplain);
  
• The “seed” are the actual words that are given (spoken or read); and
  
• The “ground” is the heart of the person who hears the Word.
  

There are four types of “ground:”

• The “wayside” is where the word dies because Satan or a family member or a friend kills it through their own opinion or lies;
  
• The “stony” ground is where the seed can't take root because even though someone is happy to hear it, they don’t do anything (like read the Bible or go to church) to help the seed take root and so it dies at the first sign of trouble;
  
• The “thorny” ground is where the word is choked to death by all of life's worries because people can't see past their own problems; and
  
• The “good” ground where the word actually accomplishes something in a person’s life because the person chooses to act on what they've heard.
  

So?
So…the thing that makes your heart “good ground” is when you repeat out loud the scriptural words you hear and then perform them. Love your neighbor. Speak kindly. Behave like you believe that God’s word will do what He says it will do.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t short…but it certainly was to the point, eh?