By: Dale Weckbacher
Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to
my feet
and a light to my path.
and a light to my path.
(ESV)
One of the blessings of living in the digital age is the
ease of access to massive amounts of information. While I still carry a Bible with me to
Church, I can also have access to Scripture on my phone, tablet, and
computer. However, just as a Bible in
book form is useless unless opened and read, the Bible in digital form is useless
unless opened on the device. In Mark
4:21-34 Jesus teaches through the use of parables to illustrate the power
of the Word of God in providing light, as a seed, and as the light that causes
the seed of the Bible in the life of Christians to grow. These parables compare the Word of God in the
heart of a believer to a,
1)
Lamp under a basket (Mark
4:21-25) – Psalm
119:105 reminds us that the Word of God is the light that illuminates the
journey through life for a Christian. The
history of the world is a history of darkness and evil. Just as one would not drive without their
headlights, one should not go through life in a dark and evil world without
some light illuminating the way. However,
we must let that light shine and not hide it through living like the world, or,
assimilating into the darkness of the world.
Instead, we must let the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ shine
through us even though the world will reject it and us or even persecute
us.
2)
Growing seed (Mark
4:26-29) – The previous parable of the sower (Mark
4:1-9) spoke of planting seed but plants that come from seed need light to
grow. For Christians, the light is the
light of the Word of God. We must let
that light shine inwardly through prayer, study, and meditation on the Word of
God providing growth as the light of the Holy Spirit brings understanding. However, when spreading the seeds of the
Gospel in a dark and lost world, we not only must cast the seed on good soil
but provide the seed with life-giving light.
This occurs as we let the light of the love of God shine through our
lives and as we live lives in obedience to the Word of God.
3)
Mustard seed faith (Mark
4:30-34) – This parable brings comfort to us as it illustrates it is not
the amount of one's faith that matters.
Even an insignificant amount of faith has great power when backed with
the power of the Holy Spirit and nourished by the light of the Word of
God. Every believer in Jesus as Savior
has a measure of faith given by God. It
is what a believer does to nourish and grow this measure of faith that
matters.
To bring revival in the dark world in which we live, we must
not only plant Gospel seed through sharing of the Gospel with others but let
the light of God’s Word shine through us to bring nourishment to the seed. We must bring revival first to our lives by
allowing the Word of God to shine inwardly in our lives, bringing spiritual
growth and closer intimacy with God into our lives. We must also let the light of God’s Word
shine from our lives to nourish and bring growth to the seed planted through
sharing the Gospel.
If you are reading this and have never accepted Jesus as
your savior, I urge you to pray with me now,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, was
buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.
A powerful mustard seed measure of faith now lives in your
heart. To make that seed more powerful I
encourage finding a church teaching from the Bible so you can gain knowledge of
God’s Word. You should also study the
Bible yourself and spend daily time with God in prayer. I also encourage taking time to reflect or
meditate on what you read or hear taught from the Bible as this helps in
applying it to your life. May God bless
everyone reading this and may the light of the love of God shine through your
life lived in obedience to God’s Word that shows God’s love.
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