READING:
One-year plan: Leviticus 24-25, Mark 4:1-29
Two-year plan: Exodus 8:16-9:35, Matthew 18:1-20
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I know there are times that I should have understood God’s Word better, but I just didn’t hear it well. Sometimes that was because the material was somewhat new to me as a younger believer, but other times it likely was because I just wasn’t in a listening posture. I needed to slow down and give more attention to the reading and the Holy Spirit. I’m sure I still need to do this, too, these days.
In today’s New Testament reading, we see the first example of something that occurs regularly in Mark’s Gospel: the author’s portraying the disciples as hardly hearing, understanding, and following all Jesus taught. In this case, Jesus had taught them the parable of the Sower—but they didn’t understand. Jesus, in fact, asked them how they would understand other parables if they didn’t understand this one. Perhaps it should have been easier to understand this simple illustration, or maybe it was that understanding this parable was foundational to understanding others, but the disciples didn’t “get it” in either case.
I think of Jesus’ response in general as, “If you don’t understand x, how will you understand anything beyond x?” It’s a reminder to me that we who teach God’s people must make sure we help our congregations understand foundational stuff (like, for example, Jesus did when He interpreted this parable for His disciples while also challenging them to learn). Believers who don’t grasp basics won’t understand other stuff, either.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Do you listen closely enough to hear, meditate on, understand, and obey God’s teachings?
PRAYER: “God, show me if I’m not grasping things I should already grasp.”
MONDAY’S READINGS:
One-year plan: Leviticus 26-27, Mark 4:30-5:20
Two-year plan: Exodus 10-11, Matthew 18:21-35