This is one of my favorite verses in the entire Bible! It’s more than a permission to fail, it illustrates the fact that I may go places in my life where the people want nothing to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let me say that this saddens me a lot knowing that 2 Timothy 1:4 tells us that “the will of the Father is that all should be saved.”
Because of free will, there will be people that place their trust in themselves and begin to build their own culture that takes their trust off of God. Knowing the scripture says that no man can serve both God and man at the same time, we have to choose––only because we want God to be in the rightful place as King of our life.
In Mark 4, Jesus tells a parable as to the places people can find themselves in life. He uses the simple example of where seeds would fall and how they may or may not grow.
3 “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. 4 As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. 5 Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died. 7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain. 8 Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” 9 Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
Out of the four different places that your life could find itself, let verse 8 be the place where your life falls––FERTILE SOIL!
Don’t let the fallow ground of life creep in or allow the animals of our world to steal your seed! Don’t let the heat of hard times steal the seed of the Gospel in your life. And lastly, don’t let the thorns of the “What-ifs, Maybe’s, and Stuff” choke out what God wants to accomplish in you and through you!
Unfortunately, not just everywhere! But make sure you are not just anywhere, but you are just in the right place!