Environment is Everything

Today's reading: Mark 3:31-35, 4:1-25

'And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: "Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow."' - Mark 4:2-3 ESV

Growing up as kids, we (at first) don't realize if we have good or have it bad. However wonderful or messed up things were around us, we considered it normal. Yet, the environment we were raised in has dramatic effects on us in every way. Why do we tend to scream when we're angry? Or why are we bent toward shutting down when we become angry?

Our environment conditions us, but it doesn't sentence us.

Jesus' parable of the sower shows the same kind of truth. The word of God is powerful, alive even. Still, our hearts' condition can make it where the most powerful force in the universe will not pierce our soil. This is where the Devil has a field day.

This is why we have to be very patient and consistent with someone who wasn't raised to know much about Christianity. They were conditioned to be hard, flighty, or anxious soil. But we are convinced as believers in Jesus that any heart can turn with the right amount of the Holy Spirit's tilling (see John 16:8).

"Father, may we keep our hearts ready to receive your word. May you also provide us with opportunities to sow your word into other people's lives, and when we see them, help us to be obedient. In Jesus' name, Amen."