If you have ever tried to grow a garden, you realize there is a mystery to it. It is possible to do everything right, as far as you know, and still not produce much of a crop. It is also possible to put the seed in the ground and not do much more than that and have a bountiful harvest. We partner with God when we plant and garden. You can’t go wrong in asking God to bless your efforts.
In Mark 4, Jesus is explaining the Kingdom of God to his disciples. And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” Mark4:26–29NASB1995
In this parable, Jesus teaches us an important truth. It is God that gives growth to the Kingdom. We certainly have a part in it. We are called to be in faithful relationship with our Heavenly Father. That means as an expression of our love for the Father, we join him in what he leads us to do. However, we must remember that Kingdom growth comes as a result of God’s mysterious and miraculous power at work in us and through us. God calls us to step out in faith and join him where he leads. We step out in faith in some tangible way. God blesses that miraculously with spiritual growth in our lives and in the life of our church family.
We must be careful not to ever think that it is our work alone, our efforts alone, that bring the growth. We must never think our efforts are the bigger part of what is happening in the Kingdom of God. Our faith, our efforts, are tiny mustard seeds that when sown, God gives phenomenal growth. Reading the Bible apart from God is confusing. Loving your neighbor apart from God is tedious and can become a way to satisfy a prideful desire for recognition. Apart from God, sharing the Gospel can become a way to satisfy a prideful desire for recognition for a church or denomination… “look at all the people we got saved.”
As an expression of our love for the Heavenly Father, we go and do what we are called to step out in faith to do. We are filled with wonder and awe when we see the Kingdom growth that God mysteriously and miraculously produces in our own lives and in our churches. By joining our Heavenly Father in what he is doing in and through us, we come to love him more and more.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for calling me to your love through your Son Jesus Christ. Thank you for the mysterious and miraculous Holy Spirit at work in my life. Help me to step out in faith to experience more of your love and power. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Thinking About and Being a Child of God 