Parable of the Soil

i have time so allow me to write my thoughts on the parable we discussed today. the 'parable of the soil' is the fitting topic for that segment in Mark i think. because both the Sower (God) and the Seed (the gospel) point to the same meaning for each different types of soil. only the types of soil change- and so my own preference 'the parable of the soil'. the soil refers to the hearts of men & women. the planting/throwing of seed refers to the gospel/word of God preached or taught.

the hard rock - refers to a heart of unbelief, and when they hear the gospel, either due to irrelevance to their lives or due to prejudice from their own current system of belief (or maybe a different religion they practice), they find the gospel meaningless or irrelevant. Satan takes this away from them and it is gone.

the soil with rocks- refers to a heart of misconception of what it is to  be a christian. they equate Christianity to only one word - convenience. when the going gets tough, its time for neglect. and thus the seed never grow. humans by nature always value pleasure and happiness more than pain or sorrow. and therefore when the situation demands to persist and remain true in this kind of 'negative'  situations, it seems better to give way to what is more convenient in the short-term rather than what is good and true. it is also possible that a convenient-Christianity mindset is not entirely their fault. churches or leaders who never teach and encourage their constituents will, like gravity, create in their members an idea of Christianity that is seemingly euphoric like what they 'feel' during worship. its the only model they have. another is the influence of the 'prosperity gospel' wherein 'blessings of good health or materialism' are equated to 'strong faith'; suffering or poverty to 'lesser faith' aka 'gaba' or 'karma'. but then again christianity is not just about convenience or 'blessings', but offers a totally different worldview and mindset that conflicts with the secular and the anti-christian views, the reality of a spiritual battle. there will always be friction, and conflict (or persecution/ intimidation/ harassment/ prejudice) will inevitably be encountered in one's life one way or another. to simply view the christian faith without the struggle or 'inconvenience' is simply not taught in scripture.

the soil with thorn plants - refers to a heart of wrong priorities. christian faith in this sense, is not the MAIN priority, but one among the many. can be either lack of dedication, the attitude of compromise or procrastination when it comes to issues that conflicts with the faith. and so when "the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things" are given more priority, the seed is choked because it is neglected and becomes of lesser importance or value. it does not grow, it withers then it dies. no nourishment, no sustenance. it is not rocket science-> what we make of our life is what priorities we deemed more important for us in our life stages. if we value and love God and his word, we simply need to make time for it. and time is of value because we do not live forever. we cannot procrastinate for every possible opportunity God gives us so we can grow in Him, we will simply wither away in time. it is not just us that is affected, but collateral damage as well to those who look to us (like family, kids, friends) if we make poor decisions apart from God's word because of negligence.

the good soil - refers to none of the 3 above. it has faith in God, a strong understanding of the christian faith rooted in the Word, and prioritizes God's will above everything else. the good soil is vindicated by the fruit it bears, "are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty fold and sixty fold and a hundredfold." we do not believe in a gospel of works, but the gospel always bear fruit. after all  (genuine) faith is justified by works (Jam 2:18). only God knows how much total fruit we bear from the testimony we bring in our lives as it affects others. but the point here is that when we are rooted in Gods word and his seed grows in us, we will eventually be a blessing to others and help one way or another to declare the gospel (and plant seeds) to all those willing to be good soils as well.

there is one question that needs to be highlighted, but was never discussed: 'What is the secret of the kingdom of God'?

Mar 4:11  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,

the kingdom of God is the advent and preaching of the word of God/gospel to every one, and the 'secret' (as pointed out in these parable) is that God uses the gospel message to plant seeds in the hearts of men and women of good soil, and it will yield MORE than what is lost. from one single seed saved, God yields more seeds saved. the kingdom of God is the kingdom of seed planting.