And Some Fell
Mark 4:8
"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."
One of the important things that someone must do when sowing seed is to make sure that the seed is in good ground. Those who work in farming will tell you that some plants can't grow in certain soil. This is one of the reasons you will see produce grow in one part of the country and not in another part. The soil in which the seed is sown is vital to the fruit that it produces.
The parable of the sower says that there were different types of soil that the seed fell upon. I want you to notice that in every case the seed fell from the hand of the sower. The Scriptures do not say that the sower purposely planted the seed in each of these places, but apparently he was carrying the seed and some fell.
As we serve God, it is unfortunate that people with whom we serve will fall. You must realize that there are people with whom you serve right now who will not be serving the LORD is years to come. This should be no surprise to you. One of the reasons the seed fell in this parable was because the sower was not careful about guarding his seed. The sower should have been more careful with his seed. Likewise, we should be more careful with those whom we serve that we don't allow them to simply fall because of our carelessness.
I want you to notice that once the seed fell, there were two things that were common that determined whether the seed was able to recover and bring forth fruit; places and associations. Some of the seed fell in places where it could not grow. Other seed fell among associations that would not allow the seed to bring forth fruit.
Every Christian needs to be careful about their associations and the places they go. These two things will ultimately determine whether you will be fruitful, or whether you will be able to come back once you fall. The places you frequent and the people with whom you associate will influence the fruitfulness of your life more than anything else.
Are your associations harming your walk with God? You need to be careful with whom you associate because associations will often cause people to fall. It may be that you only have one association who is wrong, but that one association will hurt your fruitfulness and could keep you from recovering if you fall.
Is every place you go a place that is glorifying to the LORD? Where you go will also determine with whom you associate. If there are places where you go that you would not want your pastor or another Christian to find you, then you need to stop going there. If you go to wrong places, then you will meet the wrong people. Make sure that every place you go is a place where you would not be ashamed if the Saviour caught you there.
Finally, when helping people recover from sin, the two areas you need to help them change are their associations and the places they frequent. If they are not willing to change these two areas, then they will never recover from their fall.
Some will fall in the Christian life. You need to be extra careful that you are not one of those who fall. The best way to keep this from happening is to guard your associations and the places you go.