Bearing Fruit – Mark 4:1-34

Mark 4:1-20

Original message by Andrew West, The Bridge Church Macquarie Park NSW

The farmer is not careful with his seed.
He flings it wide, casting it over stone and soil,
over path and thorn and quiet earth.
He does not measure the worth of the ground—
he only sows, and sows, and sows.

Some seed never settles, never sinks.
Snatched before it can take root,
as quick as a kookaburra’s dive,
plucked before hunger even stirs.
A hard heart says, Not here. Not now. Not ever.
The seed is forgotten, trampled underfoot.

Some seed drinks in the sun but knows nothing of rain.
It rises quick—bright, eager—
and wilts just as fast when the heat turns fierce.
No root, no depth, only shallow joy.
The spark flares and fades, a momentary light.
And the heart that once sang now sighs, I did not know it would be this hard.

Some seed grows in a crowded place,
where thorn and bramble stretch high,
where the hunger for more strangles what could have been.
Worries and wealth weave a net around the heart,
slowly, slowly, until there is no room left for fruit.
The voice of the world is louder than the whisper of truth.

And yet—
some seed finds good soil.
It sinks deep, drinks slow, grows steady.
Storms may come, trials may rise,
but the roots hold fast.
And in time, in season, the harvest comes.
Not just one grain, not just one moment,
but a field golden with life, a hundredfold return.

The seed is the gospel.
The farmer is Christ, the sower is you.
And the soil—
the soil is your heart.

Look at the seed—powerful enough to break stone, to split darkness.
Look at the farmer—faithful enough to keep sowing, even when the ground resists.
Look at the soil—
which one are you?

Listen. Trust. Let your roots go deep.
Bear fruit that will last beyond this life—
fruit for eternity.