Thoughts for the Day

Jesus also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Most of Chapter 13 of Matthew's Gospel is about the Kingdom of God (though he calls it the Kingdom of Heaven), with parables we've often heard - the parable of the sower; the parable of the weeds; the parable of the mustard seed; the parable of the yeast, etc etc. Most of these readings come from his Gospel, but today we have a delicious little parable about the Kingdom of God that is only found in Mark's Gospel. It's often called the Parable of the Growing Seed and it has much to teach us.

God wants His Kingdom of love to spread through all the world, but notice that the farmer scatters the seed even though he has no real idea of how it sprouts or continues to grow until harvest. In the same way as God nurtures the seed in the ground, so he begins to nurture His word within a person. It may take time for us to begin to grow spiritually, and we can grow in fits and starts as trees do - the rings of the tree show us the years a tree flourished or had little growth - but slowly, slowly, we do begin to grow.

If you've tried to stop blackberry bushes from growing, after birds have spread their seeds, you will know the power of a seed. Similarly, God's word continues to grow despite all obstacles. This should give us hope that God's Kingdom will eventually mature to a time of harvest.

Lord Jesus Christ,
help us to learn about the Kingdom of God
from the parables that You left us.
May we accept the offer to grow spiritually,
and not stay resting for too long.
Increase our faith
so that we may begin to flourish
and to mature as Christians.
Help us to see our tasks in this
Your great plan for our world.
Amen.