Thoughts for the Day

The Parable of the Growing Seed

He 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

The Parable of the Growing Seed only appears in Mark's Gospel and refers again to the Kingdom of God. Let's first look at it from God's perspective. The someone (the farmer) who scatters the seed is God, and the seed is God's Word. This tiny parable links back to the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4.1-20) where the seed depended on good soil for it to grow. But without a seed nothing is going to grow. Every farmer and gardener knows that you can have great soil, water, sun and nutrients, but if you don’t have a seed nothing is going to grow.

Secondly, as we see in this little parable, the seed is left in the soil to grow at its own pace. A real farmer (particularly using the broadcast method of sowing in biblical times) will only see initially what his results might be when the shoots appear and finally by harvest time what the end result has achieved. So it is with God's Word. Years may go by before there is any sign of a response - before a person responds to what they have first heard. The initial shoots will be tiny but by harvest time who knows the final result.

Today can you think of how you can chart your own growth from first stirrings to the present day:

• Your earliest faith memories? (eg mine were lip-reading Gospel songs from my Baptist mother in a tin chapel aged 4 years old) ........
• Your next response .......
• Your next response ....... etc.

With God's support, and often his timing, His secret Kingdom continues to grow!

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 the tasks You offer us,
in this Your great plan for our world.
Amen.