Matthew 13:31-32
He told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.
It has always amazed me how some people are able to prepare soil and plant seeds that seem to explode out of the ground and bear a crop of amazing proportions. A former neighbor of ours used to raise huge Hubbard squash plants. From a few round planters we could watch as the seeds grew into sprouts and soon filled the planters with green leaves. By harvest time he reaped several hundred pounds of squash. My experience with growing things has not produced the same results.
As I meditate on the subject of sowing seeds, I am aware that in order to grow, there must be a death. Seeds by themselves will never reproduce and bear a crop. They will remain just a single seed. I once read that archaeologists discovered seeds of wheat that had been placed in jars and left in tombs deep inside pyramids. The seeds of wheat remained just as they had several thousand years earlier when placed there.
For believers, there are two aspects of sowing seed. First, we need to be busy sowing seeds. That means sharing the gospel. One of the ministries we support is a Juvenile Correctional Center. The faithful servant who devotes his time to sowing seeds in that field called me today. He shared that several young men have accepted Jesus Christ into their hearts and have been baptized. Praise the Lord!
A second aspect in sowing seed is to recognize that we are seeds. That being the case, we need to die to self in order to produce the harvest that Christ desires—as we give ourselves totally to Him instead of demanding our own way. Increasingly we need to pray, “Not my will, Lord, but Thy will be done!”
Blessings, Dear Hearts, draw near to God today, trust Him completely, and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil