The parable of the sower in Mark 4 focuses attention on the human heart. The human heart is the soil for the seed sown by the Slave-Savior. Mark 4:14 says, “The sower sows the word.” The sower is Christ and the word is also Christ. This means that the Lord Jesus came to sow Himself into us. He Himself is both the sower and the seed of life. Verse 15 says, “And these are those beside the way, where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.” “Beside the way” is the place close to the way. It is hardened by the traffic of the way, and it is difficult for the seeds to penetrate it. This typifies a preoccupied heart, hardened by worldly traffic and not open to understand, to comprehend, the word of the kingdom. The soil should not be preoccupied by anything and must be absolutely open for the seed of life, but the wayside has been trodden too much by worldly traffic. This is the heart that has been preoccupied by many other things, thus becoming hardened. The wayside signifies a preoccupied heart.
Verses 16 and 17 say, “And likewise, these are those being sown on the rocky places, who when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy, and they have no root in themselves, but last only for a time; then when affliction or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they are stumbled.” The rocky places do not have much earth. This signifies a stony heart. There is some ground good for the seed, but this ground is too shallow. Underneath this ground are the rocks. It is rather hard for the seed to root deeply into a stony heart. Many times we may be willing to receive the word, but we only receive it superficially because there are some rocks in our heart. Thus, it is hard for Christ as the seed of life to root deeply in us.
Verses 18 and 19 say, “And others are those being sown into the thorns; these are those who have heard the word, and the anxieties of the age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires concerning other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” Our desires concerning other things can choke the word. You may not think that the anxieties of the age or the deceitfulness of riches trouble you, but what about the desires concerning other things? Some may be desirous of a high position or a high degree. The anxieties of the age, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires concerning other things choke the word and it becomes unfruitful.
Verse 20 says, “And those are the ones sown on the good earth, who hear the word and receive it and bear fruit, one thirty, and one sixty, and one a hundred.” The good ground, the good heart, is a heart that is not hardened by worldly traffic, without hidden sins, without the anxiety of the age and the deceitfulness of riches, and without the desires concerning other things. Such a heart is pure, good, and right.
The Triune God, who is the tree of life, has imparted Himself into us to be our enjoyment. He is the seed of life sown into our heart. Our heart is like the soil, the earth. If the soil of our heart is the wayside, trodden by the world and preoccupied by many things, it becomes hardened. Our heart must be released from any preoccupation for the seed of life to be sown in it. Our heart may not be preoccupied but there may be hidden rocks in our heart. The rocks are hidden sins, personal desires, self-seeking, and self pity, which frustrate the seed from gaining root in the depth of the earth. We may seemingly be a good brother or a good sister and yet we are superficial with the Lord because of the rocks in our heart. Thus, it is impossible for the Lord as the seed of life to grow within us deeply. It is also possible for our heart to be full of thorns which are the cares of this age, the deceitfulness of money, and the desires concerning other things. Some people have their heart set on a better car. Even this desire can hinder and choke the word from becoming fruitful. The thorns frustrate and choke the growth of the seed.
If we are going to have the Lord as the seed of life grow within us to be our full enjoyment, we have to deal with our heart. We have to ask the Lord to be merciful to us. By His mercy we have to deal with all these negative things in our heart. We have to deal with the things preoccupying us, with the hidden rocks, with the cares of this age, the deceitfulness of money, and the desires for other things. Then our heart will be good, right, proper, released, and prepared for Christ as the seed of life to grow within us.
Second Corinthians 3:16-18 says, “But whenever it [the heart] turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. And the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.” We may talk about the Lord as the life-giving Spirit, but our enjoying and experiencing the Lord as such a living Spirit depends upon our heart being turned to Him. When our heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Actually, our turned-away heart is the veil. To turn our heart to the Lord is to take away the veil. Our heart is the crucial factor in our enjoyment of the Lord as the life-giving Spirit and in our being transformed into the Lord’s image. If we are going to enjoy the Lord as the living Spirit and be transformed by Him, we have to deal with our heart. Our heart has to be turned to the Lord.