"Then Jesus asked, 'What is the Kingdom of God like?...It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches".
(Luke 13:18-19 TNIV)
We continue our 'Summer Shorts' season of bite-sized blogs following Jesus' teachings from the Gospel of Luke. This edition, we focus on the message of the mustard seed.
Reading: Luke 13:18-19
Focus: teaching the Disciples
Through the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus teaches the disciples that seeds sown for the kingdom of God, however small, will one day birth mighty trees.
The mustard seed is the smallest of seeds. To plant it might seen insignificant, potentially pointless. Yet from that small seed, grows a mighty tree where others find refuge and a home. A barely visible seed that in time enables others too to find their place.
Often in the kingdom of God, our task is to sow the seed that God has asked. It may be persistent prayers over a person, group or nation. It might be the routine morning chat with the postman or newsagent. It might be preaching relentlessly to a small and seemingly bored or hostile congregation. Maybe sticking to a business venture, job or friend through difficulty - or pouring your everything into a ministry with litte return.
However you are called to serve, be faithful to the task. You will feel discouraged at times and most likely question the call. To question is not to be feared: indeed, it is vital we are sowing how and where God calls, not pursuing our own idea and what might otherwise become dead works. We must also discern our season: that we stay in a call only as long as God intends, ready to move on or lay down to his timing.
Yet, all that withstanding, when God reassures us of the assignment and encourages us that we walk his way, our response is to keep sowing. Small, invisible, insignificant, just sow. It may take years or even decades to see the tree, but one day, that resistant ground will yield.
For in the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus reassures us that if we are sowing seeds as he asks of us without return, God is working from them a tree where one day others will find sanctuary and growth. A tree that builds the kingdom of God.
Point to consider: it is said that David Livingstone only made one convert in his lifetime, but his missionary efforts left an enduring legacy of Christian faith that endures today.
Further reading: Zechariah 4:10
Copyright © Sharmila Meadows 2022
Scripture quotations taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, TODAY’S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 2004 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, a division of Hodder Headline ltd. All rights reserved. “TNIV” is a registered trademark of International Bible Society.
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