Inside Those Who Hear the Word of God

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When they hear the word...

Mark 4:16

Here is Jesus’ report on what is actually going on inside people who hear the Word:

Some people are hard: “These are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word.” (4:15) The seed never penetrates this soil. Why? Because it’s been walked all over. Maybe you’ve developed a crust to protect yourself.

Some people are shallow: “These are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 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.” (4:16-17) These people have joy and enthusiasm, but no depth. They don’t think or feel deeply. The shallow person is always making new starts that end up fizzling out.

Some people are preoccupied: “And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 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.” (4:18-19) These weeds leave you feeling frustrated, like there’s not enough room for everything in life.

Some people will become fruitful: “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.” (4:20)

Soil can’t change. What if you’re hard, shallow, or preoccupied? Like the farmer, God can break up the hardest ground, dig out the largest stones, or pull out the most stubborn weeds: “I will give you a new heart… And I will remove [your] heart of stone…” (Eze. 36:26).

Ask Jesus to give you a new heart.