KEEP SOWING
Mark 4:26-29 ESV
26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. 28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
This is a very enlightening chapter regarding the Kingdom of God. Jesus shares a parable of the sower sowing seeds in various kinds of ground. And due to the quality of the ground, the seed is either productive or unproductive. This parable was considered so important by Jesus that when asked about the meaning, His response was very direct. According to Jesus, if they did not understand this parable, how would they understand all the parables? Evidently, the parable of the sower sowing God’s Word was foundational.
Jesus used natural examples to define spiritual truths. His parables were not complex. They were about regular occurrences that were easily understood by the people of that day. Because many of us have not grown up in an agricultural environment, we have to think through parables dealing with sheep and crops. But those who asked Jesus what the parables meant were given answers. Answers belonged to those with a desire to know, and the same applies today. Those who seek, find, and those who are hungry are filled. This explains why two people can sit in the same service, hear the same sermon, and get different results. One can be bored, and the other can be exhilarated. The Kingdom has not changed; it’s still all about the condition of the heart.
The passage for today gives the example of the Kingdom of God being like a man sowing seeds. He sows seeds and goes about his life, sleeping at night and rising at daytime without understanding how the seeds sprout and grow. Seeds planted in the earth will grow with no help from man. Man is responsible for the sowing, not the growing. God’s Kingdom works this way.
APPLICATION
There is much to be said about how God’s Kingdom functions. I do not profess to know nearly enough to be an expert, but there are a few principles that are very clear. God’s Kingdom works by seedtime and harvest. We have the ability to plant seeds and see a harvest. We can plant the seeds of God’s Word, and according to this fourth chapter of Mark, if we plant the seeds of God’s Word in our hearts, it will produce a harvest of change in our lives. We have to receive the seed, not give up when pressured, and not allow the seed to be choked out by outside interests.
Paul, writing to the Galatian church, said that God is not mocked. That whatever a man sows, that will he also reap, financial seeds, seeds of service and kindness, and seeds of love and faith with our words. When we stop and consider it, almost everything we do is affected by the principle of sowing seeds and reaping a harvest. The Creator of the heavens and earth established the principle of the seed. In fact, Jesus was a seed sown in the earth that reaped a harvest of multiplied millions, if not billions, of people who have been made right with God through Him. What a quality seed, and what an amazing harvest.
PRAYER
Dear Father, I am grateful for the simple yet profound principle of seedtime and harvest. I can sow Your word in my life and sow seeds of love in the lives of others. You will never be mocked. I will reap a harvest in my life based on the seeds I sow.