MONDAY, MAY 15
Scripture: Mark 4:13-20

Mark 4:13-20 says, “And He said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.’” Jesus explained the mystery of the Kingdom. There are four kinds of soil in every one of us. In order to convert wayside soil, we have to till it. We have to break up the hard ground, pick up the stones, and dig up the thistles. When we do, we end up with good ground. And only when ground is good does it bear fruit. But it takes work to prepare our ground. It takes work to discern the stones and it takes work to discern the thorns. It takes work to plow and till. Plowing and tilling physical ground is an immense amount of work – take it from a farmboy. But plowing physical ground is often far easier than plowing the ground of our spirits. Walking in the Word takes work that reaps endless Kingdom rewards.