Daily Devotions
Mark
1 Peter 3:17 "For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil."
Day 94 – Mark 4
“For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.” 1 Peter 3:17
A THIRD PITFALL
It takes a lot of perseverance to keep doing the work of sowing the seed of the Word of God without feeling discouraged. The work of Satan is so deadly that the seed of the Word of God may be snatched away quickly. If the hearer of the Word of God has no deep root system, then he too would see no returns from the word of God sown in his heart. A third pitfall must be carefully considered. The following text discusses this.
“Now these are the ones sown among thorns;
they are the ones who hear the word,
and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches,
and the desires for other things entering in choke the word,
and it becomes unfruitful.”
MARK 4:18-19
1. The cares of this world
a) These cares could cause the hearer to become pre-occupied.
b) The Word of God would be choked by these cares.
2. The deceitfulness of riches
a) Wealth may be a blessing from the Lord.
b) However, the individual must guard against being deceived by riches.
c) Riches can harm a person in many ways.
i) It can cause him to be worldly.
ii) It can cause him to be earth-bound in his thoughts.
iii) It can cause him to lose his faith-relationship with God.
3. The desires for other things
a) Once a person is caught up with pursuing worldly things other problems emerge.
b) He might well end up with a love of money, which is the root of all evils (Cf. 1 Timothy 6:18-19)
4. The End Result
There is dismal failure. The hearer “becomes unfruitful”. The sowing of the Word of God was in vain.