1. The Heart: The Word Is Strangled
“Others are like seed sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word, but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” (Mark 4:18-19, CSB)
Let’s Identify Three Types Of Weeds:
- Life’s Constant – worries of this age (Mark 4:19, CSB)
- Life’s Pursuit Of – the deceitfulness of wealth (Mark 4:19, CSB)
- Life’s Various – the desire for other things (Mark 4:19, CSB)
2. The Heart: The Word Is Successful
“And those like seed sown on good ground hear the word, welcome it, and produce fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown.” (Mark 4:20, CSB)
Two Critical Steps:
Step One: for the Word
Step Two: to the Word
“Do not merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says!” (James 1:22, NIV)