Mark 4:21-25 NASB95; Psalm 119:105-112 NASB

The Parable of the lamp. If we hide the light that we have, we must be ashamed of the light, or feel that we are doing something wrong.  Almost reminds me of a kid reading under a blanket with a flashlight after bedtime.  The word when it is put into action will produce light in our lives.  John 1:4-5, 8-9, 14; 1 John 1:5-8.  There was a lot to say regarding the Light being Jesus, and that we are in the light since we are in Jesus.  As the Word of God is used in our lives and shines out to other people, some are going to be offended, some are going to be convinced of sin, and some are going to be convicted of their need for salvation. The light does not care where the darkness is located.  If we are hypocrites and our lives are not in line with God’s instructions, then our sin will also be revealed.  Hebrews 4:12, the Word is a two-edged sword, it cuts both ways.  2 Tim 3:16, the word will have an effect in our lives.  Jesus warns and promises us that the light will shine out to the world, revealing what is hidden by the darkness, that can be good for us, and it can also be difficult for us, because we have to deal with our sin in order to bring our lives into compliance with God’s instruction.

We were discussing seed sowing in the last study.  Keep that in mind as you consider the parable of the lamp.  Each of us carries a lamp of sorts that represents our message to the world.  God’s word is called a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.  The righteous path carries the word of God as a lamp to the world.  David wrote about this in the Psalms to help us understand how God’s light shines through the individual believer to guide him through the daily walk.

I think that the parable that Jesus teaches carries a little more punch than just to say that if you walk with God, don’t be ashamed of the Gospel.  The idea is that the seeds that you sow will eventually come to light because they will grow.  If we sow the seeds of worldliness, eventually our phony nature will become evident to all.  If we sow the seeds of sports, eventually people will understand that the most important driving force in our lives is that of sports.  Remember, through context of the passage, one of the issues that were being faced here was the religious hypocrisy of the Pharisees.  Jesus broke the rules that the Pharisees set and became their enemy because of that.  The light that the Pharisees utilized was one that was fueled by fleshly works instead of the light of God.  Jesus was teaching that when we sow seeds, those seeds will grow.  What lamp do we have shining in the windows of our lives?

Matthew 5:13-16 NASB

If you will notice, Jesus carried the same message in Matthew.  The salt that had lost its saltiness was a useless item.  That salt should warn us that if we have lost the capacity to make people thirsty, then perhaps our message is not that of God’s word but rather a message that comes from the world.

Luke 11:32-33 NASB

Luke recorded two incidents of the lamp parable, one was in conjunction with the sower and the seed.  The second was in conjunction with relating to why people were rejecting Jesus as Messiah.  The lamp that is lit is that of Jesus in this situation.

Mark 4:24-25

“Take care what you listen to…” Whew, in today’s world this statement is over the top. Talk about seeds! It is very rare for me to turn on the radio when traveling. I have come to enjoy the momentary peace and quiet that I find in the solitude of driving. At work, I ride in vans with crews going out to trains. The radio is constantly on. It is not unusual for me to ask for a channel change when music becomes offensive. How is it offensive? Well, when I listen, I listen to the music and the words. Seeds…

Our world has become a constant noise factory. Some cannot even sleep at night without having the television going in the background. Most are listening to multimedia, movies, songs, and a myriad of other resources pumping the noise into their lives in an uninterrupted stream. How much of this is edifying to the spirit? We spend hours upon hours being entertained by these sources. Yet, what are we listening to? What seeds are being sown in our subconscious? How does this affect our outlook on life? When we move from video to video, news channel to news channel, how much of this is truly building us up? How much is building morality into our lives? What seeds are being sown?

The farmer or sower is still the main thought.  If the farmer is responsible with the seed and sows that seed, then it will grow and reap a harvest.  However, if the farmer sows bad seed or sows seed of weeds in their life, then the return on their investment will be nothing.  What do we want to reap in our lives?  Do we wish to sow a measure of good seed based on God’s word?  Or do we wish to sow seeds which are based on our human interest?  God allows us to carry the standard of measure and to utilize it in our lives.  Its worth thinking about.

To put it all together, the seeds that we sow in our lives will testify of the message that we carry in our hearts.  If we spend the time to dig in the Bible to build good seed in our lives which is based on the life of the Messiah and biblical instruction, then that seed will germinate and grow.  However, if we sow the seed of humanistic or modern thinking, then our seed will grow more ungodly people that are unwittingly opposed to God’s work.  Our seed is the light that we display in our lives, if that seed is righteous, displaying the lamp will lead others to righteousness.  If that seed is unrighteous, then we by default support the devil and lead others away from God’s righteousness.  We control the measure and integrity of our lives partly by what we sow in it.

Mark 4:25 NASB. This is a sobering verse. Our standard is the measure of how much seed is sown in our lives. If our seed has quality, then it will be fruitful. If it is bad seed, we lose out in a major way. Our lives will be without purpose. Then we fall into the deception of our current world. We soon just become cogs in a wheel grinding out life. Our purpose at that point is found in fulfilling our jobs and waiting to get home to waste away in front of the television.

In my opinion, these two verses should sober each of us. What purpose does our lives have? What can we do about it? What seeds are being sown back into our lives? Referring to the lamp, What will be revealed when the light is shown in our lives?

Please write in with your thoughts.