Pressed Down, Shaken Together, Running Over
I admit it – I am a science geek! As I read Mark 4, my biology background was running scripts in my head because Jesus talks about seeds almost all the way through the chapter.
Seeds contain all the nutrients and resources a plant needs to get its start until the plant is able to generate its own food through photosynthesis (I just had to use a double-jointed science word :)).
In Mark 4, Jesus teaches a very large crowd the parable of the sower. He talks about the four possibilities that can result in a person’s life based on what happens to the seed (word of God).
That is usually where the lesson or sermon stops – the four types of soil. However, if we keep on reading Mark 4, we see a deeper analogy of the seed – an analogy which made me think about how we live our lives – either in an abundance or scarcity mindset.
Imagine what might happen if we think abundantly? What if we ministered to that lonely, upset woman at the grocery store and sowed the Word into her life? Or what if we decided to sow financially into our churches as God directs us to do?
But truthfully, our default setting is to think in scarcity. “Oh I just don’t have time to minister to that lady today.” Or, “My money is running out before the month, so I just can’t tithe this week.” In other words, we are going to keep our seeds all to ourselves.
Generous sowers will yield an abundant crop. That is the beauty of seeds. Within a seed lies the capacity to continually produce more of its own kind. One tomato seed can produce a plant with several tomatoes. Each tomato contains dozens of seeds, each capable of doing the same. Yes, this is the abundant mindset!
I love how The Message translates these verses in Mark 4:24-25:
“Listen carefully to what I am saying – and be wary of the shrewd advice that tells you how to get ahead in the world on your own. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes.”
Stingy, territorial people are just a joy to be around, aren’t they? Umm…no. They hoard up all their resources for themselves. When we operate from a mindset of abundance, resources multiply 30, 60 or 100 fold (Mark 4:20). What determines our multiplying factor? It is determined by how abundantly we sowed the seed.
Look at this fabulous promise Jesus gives us in Luke 6:38:
“Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure – pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
The momentum of our spiritual growth can be positive or negative – it all depends on our standard of measuring. <Tweet This
So what’s your measuring device my friends? A thimble, a tablespoon, or a gallon? Whatever you are using, the same will used to measure back to you.
