Mark 4:1

Mark 4:1 says, And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.  At this time, Jesus once again began to teach, this time by the seaside.  He taught wherever He was and so should we as Christians. Sometimes we seem to worry more about where we believe we are told that we cannot teach the gospel than we do about why we don't do so where we are.  The multitude once again surrounded Jesus, and He got on a ship to continue teaching them.  It would be wonderful if people were that interested in hearing the teachings of Jesus today.  We don't often have to find a way to keep from being overrun by those wanting to hear the gospel.  Verse two adds, And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine, We are told that Jesus taught them many things by using parables, which I have heard defined as earthly stories with a heavenly meaning.  When people hear them, I believe that they have to look to God for the deeper or moral understanding.  Just like the parables, the gospel is very simple, but we have to look to God to truly understand it.  The truth of the gospel is that Jesus Christ was born without sin, lived a perfect life, was unjustly crucified for the sins of all mankind, was buried and rose again the third day so that anyone who accepts the salvation that He thereby made available will be saved.  We have to accept this by faith for it to be more than just a story. Verse three states, Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:  Jesus shared a very simple parable, and at this point. He left it at that without explanation, so I will simply post these verses without looking at the meaning.  Verse four adds, 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.  Verse five continues, And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: Verse six says, But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.  Verse seven adds, And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.  Verse eight continues, And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.  Verse nine concludes, And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.  What He said was very logical, and we could conclude that all seed sown do not meet the same fate, and that only some bear fruit.  For many people, this is all they will understand, because they do not look to God for the true meaning.  Just as Jesus said, those who have ears, I believe attuned to God's guidance, will hear and understand the parable.  What we must first understand and accept in order to truly understand this parable or any other is the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Jesus was born, lived, was crucified, buried and arose to bring forgiveness of sin to all who put their faith in Him.