For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Mark 4
As I read this very familiar parable of the sower, I wondered what determines the soil of our hearts. Is it us or God who produces fertile soil in us? I don’t really have the answer, but I am inclined to believe it is both. Proverbs 21:4 gives me a clue to part of it. “Haughty eyes and a proud heart – the unplowed field of the wicked – produce sin.” That makes sense. It is pride that makes the heart hard and unreceptive to God’s truth. In addition, both Hosea and Jeremiah make the statement, “Break up your unplowed ground” (Hos. 10:12, Jer. 4:3). Jeremiah goes on to say, “…and do not sow among thorns.” So, putting this together with Jesus’ explanation of this parable, in order to get fertile soil in our hearts, we need to humble ourselves and turn from the ways of the flesh. We need to repent.
While repentance is our decision to make, I believe God helps us with it. The image of a plow breaking up packed soil is a rather destructive one. It looks turbulent, disruptive, and one could even say painful. But it is necessary to make the soil ready to receive the coming seed. Not only does it loosen up and aerate the ground, but it also removes weeds and possibly even mixes in other materials to improve the soil’s health. And so, I believe, it is with us. God often uses harsh and difficult things in our lives to remind us that He is God and we need Him.
Jer. 31-32
How is God’s love described? What is the character of the new covenant God will make? God’s promise of hope to His people isn’t simply to restore them from captivity. It goes way deeper than that. He promises to help them desire Him. He says, “I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.” (Jer. 32:40b). He also says that the watchmen will cry out for the people to go to God and that the people will pray as they return to Him. All of this supports the thought I just expressed about God helping to break up and condition the soil of our hearts so that it will be receptive to Him.
Ps. 122
Why were they to pray for the peace of Jerusalem? Compare 1 Timothy 2:1-2. Like every other thing of physical importance in the Bible, Jerusalem has spiritual significance. The city is the symbol of God’s presence with us. The physical place is, of course, just a place. God has destroyed it before. The reason He destroyed it, however, was because of the people’s faithlessness. And what their faithlessness really destroyed was their unity with God. So to me, when David calls for God’s people to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, I hear a call for God’s people to remain faithful to Him. It is when we remain faithful to Him that we remain in His presence with peace and unity.