Mark 4:21-25

Rachel Workman: ²¹ He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? ²² For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. ²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”

²⁴ “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. ²⁵ Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”

With the measure you use it will be measured to you. Are we seeking? If not we're not receiving. However much we seek is how much is returned to us. Jesus is the Lamp and Jesus is the living word of God. Why would we put it away to be hidden from us when it can save our lives?

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John Burnett:  21 And He was saying to them, “A lamp is not brought to be put under a^[a]basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand?²² For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. ²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”²⁴ And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. ^[b]By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. ²⁵ For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”  The lamp is the gospel and we are to share it with others, not hide it or keep it a secret.  Grace is measured to us and more will be given if we spread the gospel of grace.  Whoever does not have or seek God’s grace, what he has will be taken away from him.  For those who have spent their entire lives gathering up things that mean nothing, they will lose everything.

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Allen Michaels:  ²¹ He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? Unless a lamp helps us see it is totally useless. Do our lives show other people how to find God and how to live for him? If not, we need to find out what “bowl” have extinguished our light. I know I have many bowls. The biggest ones are probably my job, my TV, my ADD, and my overall lack of interest in anything. But I think my biggest “bowl” is probably myself. I always have an excuse to get out of doing anything if it takes me away from my football, or I just don’t want to do something. So in a nutshell mine is complacency, resentment, stubbornness of heart, disobedience, lack of thought for others, and just being asocial. I’m not against society; I simply avoid social situations therefore missing any opportunity to shine for God. ²² For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. ²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”

²⁴ “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. ²⁵ Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” This verse simply means that we are responsible to use wisely what we have, as everything we have is really a gift from God. How much we have is not nearly as important as what we do with it.

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Tomorrow's reading for Mark 4:26-29

²⁶ He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷ Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. ²⁸ All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. ²⁹ As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”