Concluding Mark #5 Parables about the Kingdom
| 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. (Mark4:26-29) |
Mark recounts Jesus' parables.
Most of these parables are about the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of God grows quietly but powerfully
-Seeds.
-Lamps.
-Mustard trees.
-Soil.
Mark's parables remind us that God's Kingdom often looks small, hidden and unimpressive at first.
-But the seed is powerful.
-The gospel changes lives.
-Truth grows.
-Love multiplies.
-Grace bears fruit.
-And often the growth happens quietly:
"All by itself the soil produces grain..."
God is at work even when we cannot see it.
In my life God worked like that:
- I was baptised by believing parents
- I had a Sunday School teacher in a conservative Afrikaans church whose sincerity impressed me
- I heard our high school Students' Christian Association (SCA) singing worship songs and it drew me
- I joined the music team
- I went on a camp
- I started reading the Bible
- I started helping out at a youth group
- And the rest is history
There's a lot of "I's" there, but I was just responding, God made all the first moves.
How has He been at work in you??
