TEXT: Mark 4:1-20
JESUS loves little children. He loves all the people in the world. When Jesus was here on earth He talked to the people and boys and girls everywhere He went. Sometimes He would be on a hill, sometimes by a lake, or in a field. Sometimes Jesus would tell them a story to help them know how to be good and love God.
One day Jesus told the people the story of a man who wanted to plant some seeds. This man put his seeds into a big bag. He carried the big bag on his shoulder. He had a great big field to put the seeds into and had to walk all around, and up and down, so he had to carry a bag full of seeds. Little packages would not be enough.
Jesus said that this man walked along. He would put his hand into the bag of seeds, then throw the seeds on the ground. All through his field he went.
Some of the seeds fell on the hard road at the edge of the field. The birds liked the seeds so they came and picked up all the seeds on the hard road and ate them.
There was some rocky ground in this man’s field. There was just a little bit of dirt over the rocks. The little seeds grew into tiny plants, but the rocks got in the way and there was not enough dirt to help the little plants grow, so after a while, the little plants looked all droopy and then they dried up.
Other seeds fell among the weeds. The seeds would start to grow, but the weeds got bigger and bigger and the little plants did not have any more room. The weeds took all the room so the little plants were crowded out and died.
In another part of the man’s field was some good ground. There were not any rocks, no weeds, the ground was not hard. It was a real good place for the little seeds to grow into big, strong plants. The man put lots of seeds there and they grew and grew and grew. My, how those seeds did grow!
Did you know that a little child’s heart is just like a garden for Jesus? Stories about Jesus and memory verses are as little seeds planted there.
You remember that man who had the seeds and scattered them? Well, your Sunday school teacher does the same thing for you. Your teacher does not have a bag of real seeds but she has good things out of the Bible to put into your little heart for Jesus.
Where do you keep the love for Jesus? In your heart. And that is where all the good word seeds about Jesus go. They do not stay in your ears. They go into your ears then down into your heart. You hear about Jesus with your ears, then put what you hear away into your heart. Did you know that?
Let us look into a little girl’s heart. We cannot really, but we can tell what is in there by how she acts. She is not listening to her Sunday school teacher. Her heart is like that hard place where the man’s seeds went because she does not think about Jesus and the Bible stories after she goes home. She did not hear anything the teacher said. The Jesus’ Word seeds did not even get inside her heart. Isn’t that too bad?
Look at this little boy. The teacher is telling him the Sunday school story. He hears the things about Jesus with his ears, all right, but he does not pay much attention to the teacher. He would rather play than listen and try to say his memory verse. He does not close his eyes and pray when the other children do. Just as the man’s seeds that fell on the ground with rocks in it, the seeds going into that little boy’s heart are not going to be very strong seeds for Jesus. Pretty soon he will not know much about Jesus.
But here is another boy; and what do you suppose we would see in his heart? He listens when the stories about Jesus are told to him. He tries to say the memory verse every Sunday. He prays with the other children and he sings songs to Jesus. He has a good heart just like that good ground the man had in his field.
The words from the Bible drop right into his good heart. His heart is a good garden heart for Jesus. He loves Jesus and the good seeds start to grow into little plants of love. He sits still in Sunday school. He sings. He prays. He is a good boy.
Real plants have to have a drink of water or they cannot grow. Hearts do, too, but not real water. We keep our hearts happy when we pray. That makes the heart plants grow big and strong. More stories from the Bible keep little hearts strong for Jesus.
All boys and girls are born with “sin seeds” in their heart. Those “sin seeds” will grow into “sin weeds” if we do not ask Jesus to take them out of our heart’s garden. When a child is naughty, that is the sin plant growing in his heart.
How can you make your heart a lovely place for Jesus? You can be good in Sunday school and listen to the Bible stories your Sunday school teacher tells to you. God tells her what to teach you. You can warm your heart by praying to Jesus every day. You can water your little heart by loving Jesus more and more.
Jesus loves you — the Bible tells you so!
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