Matthew 13:31-32 “Another parable he put before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” This episode discusses how it takes time for the seeds we plant to grow. Sometimes it seems as though we are not doing enough, but it just may be that the seeds are still growing. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
A Mustard Seed Grows
Matthew 13:31-32 “Another parable he put before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
Mustard seeds are talked about a few times in the Bible. I know one of my favorite verses is Matthew 17:20 which says, “He replied because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have the faith as a mustard see, you can say to the mountain move and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” I love this verse because it talks about the power of faith and it gives me something to strive for. I can’t imagine the kind of faith that could literally move mountains. However, that doesn’t mean I won’t keep asking for it. Now that I just said that, I can actually see how God has moved some mountains in my life and my friend’s lives. Not literal rock mountains, but some pretty big mountains none the less.
The verse above is not referring to our faith as a grain of mustard seed, he is talking about he Kingdom of heaven. He is talking about how the kingdom of heaven starts out like a grain of mustard seed but then it grows into the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree. I do not know a lot about plants, however, from my reading I found out that the mustard tree here in America does not get that big. It stays a shrub as it is an annual plant that is always small is properly an herb. However, where it grew on the banks of the Jordan River it would grow as high as a horse and its rider.
However, it did not grow that tall right away. It would take several years to produce anything and to grow tall. This parable is to show how the Gospel of the Lord was to start small. It started with Jesus, and he passed it along to his 12 apostles, and then they passed it on to many. One commentary I read talked about how the preaching of the gospel works like leaven in the hearts of those who receive it. The leaven works certainly, so does the word, yet gradually. When the apostles preached the gospel it took root in peoples’ hearts and then grew over time. I think one reason I like this parable so much is it can be applied to our lives as well. Can you think of anything in your life that started out as something small and then grew into something bigger?
Sometimes I feel that I am not doing enough. Do you ever feel that way. There are so many places in our lives that we can feel this way. I am not doing enough for my family. I am not doing enough at work. I am not doing enough at school. And most definitely, I am not doing enough for the Kingdom of God. These feelings can sometimes become overwhelming. The feeling that we are not doing enough does not come from he Lord. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will convict of us something if we ask Him too and if we are truly doing something wrong. However, that feeling of “not enough” doesn’t come from the Lord. When the Holy Spirit convicts you of something He does it in a loving manner that does not make you feel bad about yourself.
When we are feeling like we are not doing enough I think it is important to remember this parable of the mustard seed. They would plant these tiny little seeds and then it would take years for them to grow into trees that produced fruit. When you are feeling like you aren’t enough take some time and think about the things you are doing and what fruit they may be producing down the road. Yes, it may look like you are not doing much now. That doesn’t mean you aren’t. It probably just means that you have planted the seeds and now you get to be patient and wait for them to grow. This may take a long time and that is ok. As long as you have planted the seeds, you are not responsible for making sure they grow. It says in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7, “ I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.”
Our job is just to plant the seeds and then God will make them grow. Sometimes when it seems like we are not doing enough it is because we are in the planting stages. I know a lot of people who are Christian and they have raised their children to be Christian and yet their children don’t attend mass, or service. I can’t speak for Protestants as I am not sure their beliefs on the need to attend services. However, I know it is very upsetting to the Catholic parents that I know because we believe that the Eucharist is life giving and we also believe that Mass is a sacrament and we hate that our children are missing out on those graces. I believe that if we have done our best to plant the seeds in our children when they are young, then we just need to pray and God will take care of the rest. it may take our whole lives, or longer for us to see the fruit from those seeds, but we will see them.
Also, the fruit from the seed may look different than we think it will. For instance, my parents raised me and my 10 siblings in the Catholic faith. We were in mass every Sunday and we made all of our sacraments. Today we are all grown ups and only 4 of us are still attending mass. However, every one of us spreads kindness and love into the world. Although my siblings may not be attending mass, they are definitely loving their neighbors. One of my sisters put together 6 baskets for families in need of a Thanksgiving dinner. She also organized a family craft day so we could make ornaments for foster children. There were 3 of my siblings, myself and my mom and her sister that participated and we made over 100 ornaments. I am not saying this brag about my family, I am saying this because my parents might thing they didn’t do enough because all my siblings aren’t attending church. However, because of the seeds that they planted, those 6 families had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day dinner. Also, those foster children will have a few ornaments of their very own.
It is easy for us to think we are not doing enough. I am sure that is what the enemy wants us to think. He wants us to think we aren’t doing enough so that we start looking at ourself and stop looking towards the Lord. We are all doing the best we can. All we need to do is to continue to do the best we can and to offer what we are doing up to the Lord. When we feel we are not doing enough we can talk to the Lord about it. We can say something like, “Dear Lord, I love you and I want to do as much as I can for you. I feel as though I am not doing enough, please help me to be patient and wait for you to grow fruit from my efforts. If there is something else you think I should be doing put that on my heart. Otherwise, I will trust that I am doing enough for you Lord.” God doesn’t want us to feel bad. He doesn’t need us to do anything. He appreciates our help and our efforts whatever they are. Remember, he is our father. If you have children, do you ever look at their efforts and think that they are not enough? Well, maybe we do, because we are imperfect people. However, our Heavenly Father is perfect and He only looks upon us with love and gratitude when we try to do things for His Glory.
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless everyone listening to this episode today. Lord, we want to do everything for you. Please help us to know that we are enough just as we are. We don’t have to prove ourselves to you. Please help us to see that what we are doing may look small, but we are planting seeds that will grow into giant trees some days. Lord, in our efforts to please you sometimes we get caught up in thinking about ourselves and how much we are doing. It is not about ourselves Lord, help us always look to you instead. We love you Lord and we thank you for all you do in our lives. We thank you for taking our tiny seeds and helping them grow into trees. We can’t ever thank you enough. You are amazing Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I hope you were able to spend a little more time in prayer this week. Next week’s character trait is compassionate. I will send out an email on Sunday with ideas on how to grow in compassion over the next week. I look forward to spending time with you on Monday. Have a blessed weekend!