The Living Word: A Daily Devotional with Jeff & Dale from The Jenkins Institute

Evaluating oneself properly can be very hard. There are occasions when we may be much too hard on ourselves. But surely there are times when we’re too lenient as well. Jesus said, “Do you not understand the parable? How then will you understand all the parables?” (Mark 4:13, ESV). This parable is all about having very attentive ears to the message of our Lord, along with a humble, responsive spirit that lets things “soak in.” If we struggle in this area, we’re going to struggle in our relationship with Jesus.

Sower. Seed. Soil. Each of these has a crucial part in Christ’s Parable of the Sower. Each must be properly studied to get the picture our Lord intended. According to Jesus, the secret of a fruitful heart is having hearing ears with a humble spirit. Jesus mentions four different types of soil/hearts.

“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11, ESV). This short statement is a real attention grabber! In a skeptical world that often says, “So what?”, the people of God sow the word of God to bring precious souls to God. In a pluralistic world that says there are many roads one may pursue and still be okay with God, what one sows matters. Bumper sticker ethics aside, what we sow matters to God, to those we instruct 

“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow” (Mark 4:3). Jesus not only wants people to listen and hear; He wants us to look and see, too. Perhaps a farmer was out sowing seed, and our Lord drew attention to it. Even if not, farmers behaving in such a manner would have been a common sight in that part of the world. His hearers could easily envision it.

 Good communication can be tough, can't it? Experts say we spend about 75% of our conscious hours communicating 10% writing or texting 15% reading, 30% speaking, and 45% hearing e gc coaching.com.

If you're wondering why you feel so tired now, you know, English speaking persons typically talk at a rate of 110 to 170 words per minute. 

 As we have noted, God expects us to bear fruit. Bearing fruit takes time. And we are helped in that regard by our brothers and sisters and by Jesus, who believes in second chances. But there's something you need to know: Chances to bear fruit will not last forever. 

 Let's concentrate on what the vine dresser did to help the fig tree become fruitful. He dug around it and put on fertilizer. What does this tell us about being fruitful among other things? It tells us that we need help beyond ourselves to grow and be fruitful for God. We've already noted that we need Jesus connected to our lives to bear fruit for God.

When the owner wanted the unfruitful tree cut down, the vinedresser asked for one more year to care for it in hopes it would bear fruit. Even though everything about the vinedresser isn’t an exact match, I believe that he represents Jesus.

Jesus believes in second chances. I’m thankful for this because I have often needed second, third, fourth, and more chances.

When the owner came to check on his fig tree, he said that he had come for three years and found no fruit. The common fig tree in Jesus’ day was the ficus carica. It sometimes bore fruit in the second year, but more often in the third year or later. Much depended upon the rains and the condition of the soil. When one plants a fig tree, patience is required. The tree needs to grow and mature.

 We will look at this parable from several angles. Today I want to concentrate on the expectations of the owner. While everything about the owner is not analogous to God, it is clear that we were planted by him. God expects us to bear fruit. He never put us on the earth to simply take up space. What kind of fruit does he want us to bear?