Mark 4 - Living a life of Faithfulness
This chapter emphasized on the teachings of how attentive one is to listening, practicing & living out a life that is align with the will of God. The seeds are the word of God & it will grow but it depends on the heart of the person who are willing to accept it when they hears it, acceptance in this case means that accompanies actions that prove the faith & beliefs in the word of God. For example, I believe that vegetables are good for my body, where did that belief came from? Well, I heard it from my parents, friends, family members, teachers, doctors, so I eat it for the benefit of the body, that accompanies with the action of eating. So when Jesus Christ was teaching the word of God to the crowd & disciples saying that anyone who have ears, then hear! That’s the exhortation to practice it in life with actions. This is in the context of those already accepted & believe continuously in Jesus Christ is the Saviour & that thru Him, one receive salvation & eternal life.
When one believe & is faithful to Christ & the word of God, it cannot be hidden as it will show or flow out from their lives. It would be super obvious that this is not the same person anymore! If in the past they were not righteous. However those who are still practicing wickedness, people actually do know their characters & out of fear sometimes people avoid them or just give way to the wrath of God. A person’s heart will always be known by its actions. So when we listen or read the word of God, it’s an encouragement for us from our Lord Jesus Christ to be attentive & always be mindful of our hearts & act according to the word of God.
When Jesus Christ asked the disciples to cross the sea of water, they got into a storm & accused Jesus Christ of leading them into trouble. They thought that Jesus Christ did not care about their lives, this means that they truly believed they are going to die soon and nothing can save them from it. However it was not so, Jesus Christ rebuked the storm to be silent & be still, to the disciples’ surprise that even the wind & sea obey Him. Jesus Christ rebuked them for not trusting in Him to be able to save them when in trouble. This is a stark reminder that sometimes when one should not shun from doing something because of the fear of troubles to come, but to rely on God & trust that He will save us, of course this is not a free pass to deliberately test God by doing something dangerous recklessly. May the Lord Jesus Christ help us all to be able to trust in Him wholeheartedly & to keep on living a life that is faithful to Him & His words.