📖 Mark 4

Mark 4 is a real chapter from the New Testament. It starts, “Again he began to teach by the seaside. A great multitude was gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat in the sea, and sat down. All the multitude were on the land by the sea.” That is not a motto invented for a poster. It is the first sentence a family hears when this page is opened at night.

Keep going a little further. The chapter also says, “He said to them, “Is the lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it put on a stand?” Mark 4 opens with these words: “Again he began to teach by the seaside. A great multitude was gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat in the sea, and sat down.…” The line to keep is Mark 4:11: “He said to them, “To you is given the mystery of God’s Kingdom, but to those who are outside, all things are done in parables,” Carry the word “given” from that verse into the rest of the day.

The line worth learning out loud is Mark 4:11: “He said to them, “To you is given the mystery of God’s Kingdom, but to those who are outside, all things are done in parables,” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.

What happens first in Mark 4? Then try this: Read “He said to them, “To you is given the mystery of God’s Kingdom, but to those who are outside, all things are…” once more. What does it show you about God? You do not have to finish every verse. You can close the book after the memory verse and still have read the Bible together.