Daily Devotions
Mark
1 Peter 3:18a "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust..."
Day 95 – Mark 4
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust…” 1 Peter 3:18a
SPECIAL REASON TO REJOICE
The Sower must find great encouragement and joy in his heart when he considers the wonderful fruit that can appear when the seed is sown on good ground. Two texts must be read together for full appreciation.
“But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop
that sprang up, increased and produced…”
MARK 4:8
“But these are the ones sown on good ground,
those who hear the word, accept it and bear fruit:
some thirtyfold, some sixty and some a hundred.”
MARK 4:20
1. Good ground
We do not have a full description of what this ground really is. But we do know what it is not:-
a) It is not wayside ground
b) It is not stony ground
c) It is not thorny ground
2. The illustrative word
What a powerful description of the kind of growth that one may expect to see when a seed falls on good ground.
a) Sprang up
b) Increased
c) Produced
3. The explanatory word
a) Hearing of the word
b) Acceptance of the word
c) Bearing fruit
4. Thirtyfold… sixty… a hundred
This phrase describes the varying levels of yield of the seed. Thirtyfold is considered average. Sixtyfold is considered very good. A hundredfold is excellent yield.