The Text

Mark 4:26–29 (CSB)
26 “The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground.

27 He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how.

28 The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head.

29 As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Devotion

John 3:1–8 (CSB)
1 There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

2 This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.”

3 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4 “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”

5 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again.

8 The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

The Discussion

1. What do we need to do for God to grow inside of our hearts or for us to grow in God?

John 14:23-24 (CSB) Jesus answered, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 The one who doesn’t love me will not keep my words. The word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.

John 14:15-17 (CSB) “If you love me, you will keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. 17 He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.

Believe and trust in God.

2. Do we obey God because we love him or because we don't want to get into trouble?

Hebrews 12:4-7 (CSB) In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly or lose heart when you are reproved by him, 6 for the Lord disciplines the one he loves and punishes every son he receives. 7 Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline?

3. The farmer plants the seed. Yet, the seed makes fruit without the farmer. Does it mean that the farmer can stop farming? God works to grow your heart for Him. Does it mean we get to stop obeying God?

1 Corinthians 3:6-9 (CSB) I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So, then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s coworkers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

The Prayer from the Psalms

The Resources

Calvin’s Commentaries.
by John Calvin.
Baker. 2009.
Olive Tree

Mark: An Expositional Commentary
by R.C. Sproul.
Reformation Trust Publisher. 2011.
Goodreads

New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to Mark
by William Hendriksen.
Baker. 1981.
Goodreads

The Gospel according to Mark: The English Text With Introduction, Exposition, and Notes (The New International Commentary on the New Testament)
by William L. Lane.
Eerdman’s. 1974.
Goodreads

Mark (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, NT Volume 2)
Edited by Thomas C. Odin & Christopher A. Hall
IVP Academic. 2005.
Goodreads

Mark (The Story of God Bible Commentary Series)
by Timothy G. Gombis.
Zondervan Academic. March 9th 2021.
Goodreads