Scripture

Mark 4:26-29 ESV

And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Consider

Speaking to an agrarian culture, Jesus often used images of farming in his teaching parables. People with “ears to hear” could make the connection between the difficult concept of God’s kingdom and the sowing, growing, and harvesting elements with which they were so familiar.

For example, in the above parable, Jesus illustrates the mysterious unfolding of God’s kingdom in the world by likening it to the wonderous phenomenon of tiny seeds producing a crop of grain. It is not the farmer, he says, but the seed itself that holds the wisdom and capacity to grow. The farmer’s job is to plant the seed, and the seed’s created nature takes over from there. Likewise, God’s kingdom has its own inertia and will grow and expand before our very eyes, though we know not how.

We can see this same phenomenon play out in our relationships. When we respond to conflict in a way that obeys God, we plant a kingdom seed that will grow and produce fruit without our knowing how. We may not see visible manifestations of this fruit, but God will fulfill God’s kingdom purposes in God’s way. Like the farmer, we trust in the innate nature of the seed. Our love and kindness in response to someone’s hurtful behavior may set in motion a change of heart that is God’s doing, not ours. The change may be tiny but significant to God, and may unfold within the other person’s heart or our own.

On the other hand, obedience to our fleshly nature will lead us to worsen the conflict by digging in our heels and asserting our rights. We may want to pay back pain for pain and insult for insult. In like manner to the seed of God’s kingdom, the dark seed of Satan’s kingdom has a design and a power to expand on its own. When we sow seeds of bitterness and spite, we may indeed set in motion a hardening and a darkening, whether in the other person’s heart or our own. Evil grows and strengthens, often alarmingly, though we know not how.

The apostle Paul speaks personally of the battle we all face in trying to obey the right Master. The hope he offers to the early church at Colossae can be our hope as well:

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14).

Let our hope and strength for battle lie in our remembering that we are indeed a redeemed and forgiven people, wholly loved and chosen for a glorious inheritance with Christ.

Pray

Creator God, thank you for your life-giving Spirit and sustaining hand. Help me to obey your call to plant the kingdom seeds that bring health and wholeness into my relationships. Give me strength to resist the ways of darkness and to respond with patience and love to those who hurt or offend me.

Reflect

Romans 7:13-25; James 5:7-8

Ponder

What does my behavior say about the Master I trust and follow?