What is the Bible. (Part 2)

A Seed

—Mark 4:3-20

"Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed," [Jesus told them]. "As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The plant sprang up quickly, but it soon wilted beneath the hot sun and died because the roots had no nourishment in the shallow soil. Other seed fell among thorns that shot up and choked out the tender blades so that it produced no grain. Still other seed fell on fertile soil and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted …."

Jesus is telling one of his incredible stories. 

In this one he compares God's Word to a seed. 

Like handfuls of seeds tossed into the air and blown over a few acres of land, God's Word ends up dropping into the lives of many different people. 

Some of those people "just don't get it," and the Bible means nothing to them. Other people seem to really take it in, but eventually their so-called faith withers away because it was never firmly rooted. 

Then there are those who get caught up in all their problems, worries and sins. The Word of God is just choked right out of their lives. 

Still others let God's Word take root in them, and they grow in amazing ways and continue to mature in their faith. It takes time, discipline and patience to understand the Bible and discover its powerful, life-changing lessons. 

But that's the only way to produce lots of great fruit, right?