Plant It
I was thinking about the mustard seed of faith the other day. Jesus said that faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain (Matthew 17:20). As I pondered how powerful a small faith is, I remembered Jesus compared something else to the mustard seed, the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 13:31-32 tells us that the tiny mustard seed grows into a great tree. Something so small can be great when it is activated.
The growth of a seed is initiated by planting and planting is a perfect vehicle for faith to ride in. Jesus explains in Mark 4:26-29
Farmers rely on the nature of the seed to go into the ground and become the produce they want to harvest. They trust the seed is what they believe it is—wheat, apple, etc.—and that it will germinate and produce fruit. They understand it goes through a process, but the precise “how” it happens remains a mystery. Science tells us a lot, but we still don't really know why seeds work the way they work.
By design, faith must be energized by action. James 2:14-26 explains that if an action does not accompany faith, it is dead. If a seed is not planted, it will die. In both cases, work must be applied so that fruit can be produced. The Apostle Paul further expands on the seed motif in 1 Corinthians 3:5-9
Growth occurs when we partner with God and take advantage of the opportunity He gives us to work. So if your faith doesn't seem to be producing fruit, examine whether your seeds are still in the packet or need to be cultivated. God promises that a little can do a lot and that He causes the growth. If you have planted and watered according to the Lord, be like the man in Mark 4. Although you don't know how it happens, be ready to harvest the crop when it is ready.
The growth of a seed is initiated by planting and planting is a perfect vehicle for faith to ride in. Jesus explains in Mark 4:26-29
And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Farmers rely on the nature of the seed to go into the ground and become the produce they want to harvest. They trust the seed is what they believe it is—wheat, apple, etc.—and that it will germinate and produce fruit. They understand it goes through a process, but the precise “how” it happens remains a mystery. Science tells us a lot, but we still don't really know why seeds work the way they work.
By design, faith must be energized by action. James 2:14-26 explains that if an action does not accompany faith, it is dead. If a seed is not planted, it will die. In both cases, work must be applied so that fruit can be produced. The Apostle Paul further expands on the seed motif in 1 Corinthians 3:5-9
What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
Growth occurs when we partner with God and take advantage of the opportunity He gives us to work. So if your faith doesn't seem to be producing fruit, examine whether your seeds are still in the packet or need to be cultivated. God promises that a little can do a lot and that He causes the growth. If you have planted and watered according to the Lord, be like the man in Mark 4. Although you don't know how it happens, be ready to harvest the crop when it is ready.
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