시간을 간직한 씨앗들(SEEDS OF TIME)

💙 시간을 간직한 씨앗들

 ✝  마가복음 4:13 - 4:20 

“ 좋은 땅에 뿌려졌다는 것은 곧 말씀을 듣고 받아... 결실을 하는 자니라 “
[마가복음 4:20]

1879년에 윌리엄 빌을 본 사람들은 아마도 그를 이상한 사람이라 여겼을 것입니다. 식물학 교수였던 그가 다양한 씨앗들을 스무 개의 병에 담아 땅속 깊이 묻는 것을 본 것입니다. 그러나 사람들은 빌이 그후 몇 백 년간 이어질 종자의 발아 능력 실험을 한다는 것을 몰랐습니다. 매 20년마다 병 하나를 꺼내어 병 속에 담겨있는 종자들을 심어 어떤 것이 싹이 나는지 관찰하려 했던 것입니다.

예수님은 씨 뿌리기에 관해 많이 이야기하시면서 종종 씨 뿌리는 것을 “말씀”을 전하는 것에 비유하셨습니다(마가복음 4:15). 주님은 어떤 씨는 사탄이 가로채고, 어떤 씨는 기초가 없으므로 뿌리내리지 못하며, 어떤 씨는 주변 것들에 방해를 받아 자라지 못한다고 가르치셨습니다(15-19절). 

복음을 전할 때 어떤 씨앗이 살아 남을지는 우리에게 달린 것이 아닙니다. 우리의 할 일은 단지 예수님을 다른 사람들에게 전하는 것, 곧 복음을 뿌리는 것입니다. “온 천하에 다니며 만민에게 복음을 전파하라”(16:15).

2021년, 빌이 묻었던 병 하나를 새로 꺼내어 씨앗들을 심었는데, 어떤 씨앗들은 142년 이상을 살아남아 싹을 틔웠습니다. 하나님이 우리를 통해 일하셔서 우리의 믿음을 다른 사람들에게 전할 때 우리가 나눈 말씀이 뿌리를 내릴지, 그리고 언제 내릴지 우리는 알지 못합니다. 
그러나 여러 해가 지나서라도 우리가 뿌린 복음을 받은 누군가가 “말씀을 받아... 결실을 할”(4:20) 수 있다는 사실에 우리는 격려를 받습니다.

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누군가에게 복음을 전했던 경우를 생각해 보십시오. 
그때 그 사람의 반응은 어땠습니까? 
오늘 그 사람을 위해 어떻게 기도하고 있습니까?

<사랑하는 하나님, 친구와 동료들에게 예수님을 전할 수 있는 용기를 주소서.>

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[마가복음 4:13 - 4:20]
13. 또 이르시되 너희가 이 비유를 알지 못할진대 어떻게 모든 비유를 알겠느냐
14. 뿌리는 자는 말씀을 뿌리는 것이라
15. 말씀이 길 가에 뿌려졌다는 것은 이들을 가리킴이니 곧 말씀을 들었을 때에 사탄이 즉시 와서 그들에게 뿌려진 말씀을 빼앗는 것이요
16. 또 이와 같이 돌밭에 뿌려졌다는 것은 이들을 가리킴이니 곧 말씀을 들을 때에 즉시 기쁨으로 받으나
17. 그 속에 뿌리가 없어 잠깐 견디다가 말씀으로 인하여 환난이나 박해가 일어나는 때에는 곧 넘어지는 자요
18. 또 어떤 이는 가시떨기에 뿌려진 자니 이들은 말씀을 듣기는 하되
19. 세상의 염려와 재물의 유혹과 기타 욕심이 들어와 말씀을 막아 결실하지 못하게 되는 자요
20. 좋은 땅에 뿌려졌다는 것은 곧 말씀을 듣고 받아 삼십 배나 육십 배나 백 배의 결실을 하는 자니

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💙 SEEDS OF TIME

 ✝  Mark 4:13 - 4:20 

“Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop.”[ MARK 4:20 ]

In 1879, people watching William Beal would likely think he was loony. They’d see the professor of botany filling  twenty bottles with various seeds, then burying them in deep soil. What they didn’t know was that Beal was conducting a seed viability experiment that would span centuries. Every twenty years a bottle would be dug up to plant its seeds and see which seeds would germinate.

Jesus talked a lot about seed planting, often likening the sowing of seed to the spreading of “the word” (MARK 4:15). He taught that some seeds are snatched by Satan, others have no foundation and don’t take root, and yet others are hampered by the life around them and are choked out (VV. 15–19). 

As we spread the good news, it’s not up to us which seeds will survive. Our job is simply to sow the gospel—to tell others about Jesus: “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (16:15 ESV).

In 2021, another of Beal’s bottles was dug up. The seeds were planted by researchers and some sprouted, having  survived more than 142 years. As God works through us and we share our faith with others, we never know if the word we share will take root or when. But we’re to be encouraged that our sowing of the good news might, even after many years, be received by someone who will “accept it, and produce a crop” (4:20). 
-KENNETH PETERSEN

Consider an example of how you shared the good news with someone. 
How did that person respond?How are you praying for that person today?

Dear God, please give me courage to share Jesus with friends and colleagues.

13. And He *said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables?
14. "The sower sows the word.
15. "And these are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately  Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.
16. "And in a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky [places,] who, when they hear  the word, immediately receive it with joy;
17. and they have no [firm] root in themselves, but are [only] temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.
18. "And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the  word,
19. and the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
20. "And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it, and  bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.