Mark 4:3 “Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:”

Mark 4:4 “And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.”

Mark 4:5 “And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:”

Mark 4:6 “But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.”

Hello readers, haven’t done a blog for a little while now! But I have a thought from the Bible which I believe may be relevant to you just as it was to me!

Spring has taken hold early here in Adelaide, South Australia. Where for the last few years winter has seemed to continue long into our spring… this year… as we officially tick into the first spring month… we’ve already been having quite a few nice sunny warmish days.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking about this phrase “no depth” from the parable of the sower that Jesus told as recorded in the book of Mark. And I’ve been thinking about what the difference between a shallow versus deep person is.

Because here in the Bible, it seems like having “depth” is actually quite important. Because Jesus made it clear that places with no depth are no good for the seed of God’s word.

This parable is just so fundamental to Christianity and it explains a lot about how the gospel is received or why it is not received. It is important to realize that everyone’s salvation story and life that follows Christ begins with the seed! There’s power in the seed of God’s word! My Christian life began with the seed… and if you are saved, so did yours too.

Who sowed that seed? Well, my parents did. And being at church and hearing sermons… reading God’s word for myself. There was some good seed thrown into my heart in my life, and my ground obviously hadn’t gotten too hard and rocky or lost too much topsoil just yet. But I’ve had to watch the birds and the thorns!

So in this parable Jesus is likening the word of God to a sower sowing seed to help us understand spiritual truth. That same seed is thrown out by Christians these days (or meant to be!) and it has all sorts of results. If you’ve ever told people the gospel… you’d definitely know this! It’s a mixed bag!

The same gospel can illicit very different responses. Some indifferent. Some hostile. Some “I’ll think about it”. Some… it really takes hold! And it’s amazing when it does. What kind of place is your heart? Is there good ground for God’s word?

And one thing that makes the ground capable of receiving God’s word, producing new life, growing and being fruitful is “depth”. Don’t be afraid of depth! We all need it!

Today I want to contrast “deep” versus “shallow” a bit in this blog. Perhaps you’ve met people that are “shallow”, people who just don’t seem to have depth of character. Maybe you’re thinking of some right now… far out, you may love them, and we should love others… but there’s just nothing there, they’re so light, empty and vain…

And then perhaps you’ve met people with wonderful depth of character. This world is really full of all types of people! And that’s why we don’t discriminate in who we share the gospel with! Because we don’t really know who will receive God’s word and who won’t.

If I asked you are you a shallow person or a deep person, which would you say you are? If I asked people that know you, if I ask witnesses of your life… what would they say about your heart and your character? I hope there’s some depth of earth in your life. Boy I hope there is in mine! But I hope your heart isn’t filled with rocks and thorns and occupied with other things. For many all the good soil was gone long ago, sin can take wheelbarrow loads out and replace it with all sorts of junk.

One thing I’ve found in life, particularly in my country and society, is that many people are afraid of deep things! The reason they are not deep is because they’ve been avoiding deep their whole lives! I’ve met so many people who just prefer it shallow in life. Many people just like to focus on having fun, enjoying their life, and not thinking too deeply about things.

So I believe this concept of deep versus shallow is quite relevant. Because a big reason that the gospel has so little “uptake” these days is because of the shallowness of our generation. God’s word doesn’t take ground because it can’t find good ground.

Do you know people that avoid the deep? Say you talk to someone about thing like judgment, death, hell… that’s pretty deep. That’s sober stuff, and many of us don’t like to think too much about these grim realities of life. How many people don’t want to even think about deep things!

… And yet Jesus here is pretty much saying that if there is no depth in you, the seed of the word of God really has no chance of saving your soul and changing your life! Our heart needs to be good, deep ground… and if that’s not the case, God’s going to have to work some depth into your character… and that’s the department of the Holy Spirit of God.

Perhaps you’ve noticed that some people go through some really bad things in life. Many do in fact. And yet how often these are the kind of people with depth. It’s a funny little life this one, because we want it easy, but easy usually produces shallow, and hard produces deep. No wonder the Bible talks about entering the kingdom of God through much tribulation. So beffore you blame God for some bad things in life, maybe, just maybe they’re what made you the deep, warm, receptive, tender Christian you are.

You never know what God is going to do in your life to work some fertile ground for God’s word to save your soul! I personally wouldn’t choose bad times and hard times… but sometimes those things are necessary to create some space in our heart in that crowded plot of land in our soul.

I’ve also been thinking about the false prophets in the Old Testament. One of the markers of these guys was their “lightness”… they liked to keep things light and not heavy. How many churches are around today who are so light… not light as in terms of sunlight… but light as in keep everything really shallow, jovial and casual! See churches keep things really shallow these days, nice and light and superficial… don’t get heavy and deep because that makes people leave!

Nevertheless… watch out for shallow and superficial Christianity… because it has no root! Jesus is the root… and shallow Christianity has no Jesus Christ in the depth of their lives… it won’t last, and it definitely won’t survive the heat! If your Christianity is going to take the heat, it’s going to need to get deep first!

So I hope this is a word in season for me and you. Don’t be afraid of God working in your life! May the Holy Spirit work some good ground in our heart capable of receiving God’s word. Take it as easy as possible on me Lord! But remember, God’s deep work on our heart is an absolute necessity for us all.  God’s word is deep, and it goes deep, to the very heart, soul and spirit! Yes, most people don’t like that, most people prefer it really shallow and superficial… but deep ground is where the seed of God’s word will have all it’s success… so how deep or how shallow is the ground in your heart?

May God bless us all with depth of character, may the precious seed of God’s word find good, deep, rich soil in our hearts, may God do a deep work in our lives that stands up to life’s fiery trials… and thanks for reading, have a great week!

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