“The Growing Seed”

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

There are only four parables in the gospel of Mark. The sower, the mustard seed and the wicked vinedressers are also contained in the other gospels. The parable of the growing seed is found only in Mark 4:26-29.

Several of Christ’s parables dealt with seeds.

The sower teaches us that there are different kinds of hearts into which the seed of the kingdom can be sown.

The parable of the tares helps us to see that not all that happens is the Lord’s will. Satan has an influence on the affairs of man.

The mustard seed deals with the power of the gospel to influence people to grow and develop and that the church may start small, but it will grow into a powerful spiritual kingdom.

The bottom line of this parable is that we simply do not know how the gospel works. In the time of Christ, they didn’t really know how a seed worked. Centuries later, we have made much progress in the field of agriculture. We understand the benefits of rotating crops, of fertilizing, of producing more crops on less land, of killing weeds, but we have made little or no progress in learning how a seed can grow and produce a crop.

And we don’t really know how the Bible works. It is described as “the power of God to salvation” (Romans 1:16) and we have all seen it produces change and bring about spiritual grown and development in people, but we just don’t understand how it does that. It produces a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17). It makes a person a better father, mother, husband, wife, citizen, worker, student, etc. Unlike Shakespeare or other great works of literature, it makes people better and prepares them for eternal life.

We are taught to plant and water the seed, but it is still God who must give the increase and make the plant grow (1 Corinthians 3:6-9).

A seed must be put into the ground and, in the same way, we must receive the word into our hearts (James 1:21). By our obedience to this seed of the gospel, we are born again (1 Peter 1:23-25).

So, it is our responsibility in God’s plan to be the ones who plant the seed into the hearts of men and women. We must “preach the word” (2 Timothy 4:2) or teach it one on one to people who are separated from the Lord. And when we do that, God has promised us that the harvest will come.

--Roger Hillis

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