Knowing God's Word #8

Chapter 8: Outlines

Outlining a passage of Scripture may reveal patterns we might otherwise miss. Here's my outline of the Parable of the Sower (Luke 8):

Farmer went out to sow his seed

• Path -- trampled / eaten by birds
• Rock -- withered among thorns / grew and choked
• Good soil -- yielded a bountiful crop

The meaning of the parable: the seed is the word of God

• Path -- Satan takes the word from them
• Rock -- no root among thorns / choked by life’s worries, riches, and pleasures
• Good soil -- noble and good hearts and persevere

Since I don't have access to a tab function, the above outline isn't exactly like I created it in WordPerfect, but you can still get the idea.

Usually, though, I prefer to write out an entire verse or passage, separating and indenting the lines as if creating a poem. This simple exercise helps me pay attention to the prepositions and conjunctions, nouns and verbs.