“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” Mark 4:24-29
There is unique tension in Mark’s gospel when Jesus tells people to keep quiet about his miracles yet points to obvious ways the world works when describing his kingdom. When Jesus uses the phrase “the Kingdom of Heaven is like,” it’s almost to say that the more we run into reality, the more we find the truth of God’s kingdom.
God’s world is full of Kingdom lessons if we’re looking for them. The more we seek out God’s Kingdom, the more we find God’s truth.
Here, Jesus describes his kingdom like the process of a seed transforming into a plant and further providing a farmer with a great harvest. We all know farmers work the land and plant seeds but Jesus wants us to see there is more happening under the surface. When the farmer completes his day’s work and falls asleep, the work doesn’t end. When God partners with us, he’s in charge of transformation.
We get to participate in God’s work, but multiplicative results happen when God shows up. Today, submit your daily work to the Lord and praise him for how he’s shown up in recent days.
By Yvonne Biel
