A few weeks ago I was reading the story in Mark 4 as Jesus told of the four types of soils. There was the wayside, the stony, the thorny and the good ground. We have all read this parable many times, I am sure. What caught my attention, in fact I poised it as a question on Face Book and no one responded, “Why did the good soil produce different percentages of harvest.?” Jesus said “And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.” Mark 4:20 Why didn’t all of the seeds sown in the good ground bring forth a hundred fold? Today I was again studying this passage and Jesus goes on to talk about the farmer sowing a kernel of corn and not knowing how it grows but is ready to harvest it when it produces fruit. As I began to study about corn I found that there are many different things that can effect the amount of fruit a stalk of corn produces. Ears that are near the top of the stalk will produce more kernels. Ears near the bottom of the stalk will generally produce little or no kernels. If there is hail during the pollination time it will likely keep the ears from being pollinated and there will be no fruit. Too much water, weather that is too cold or too hot can all effect the yield of the fruit. I came to realize there is more to the amount that is harvested than just what is planted, it also has to do with the response of the plant to the environment it is in, the stresses that come upon it and how it is able to weather the storms. The same is true in our lives. We hear the Word of God, we receive it and we will bring forth fruit from the Word…but the amount of fruit we bring forth will be dependent upon our ability to deal with our environment…the stresses of life…the problems that come our way…our faith and trust in God. Some will bring forth thirty percent, and others will bring sixty percent, I want to bring a hundred percent to present to God. Just a thought! God Bless