And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." Mark 4:26-29
There is a certain bewilderment involved in the mystery of farming or gardening. As I sat outside in my garden preparing to plant some spinach, I noticed I hardly did much. I dug a fourth of an inch into the dirt, dropped a seed, and covered it. Soon enough it sprouted! Amazing! With a small amount of effort there sprang up, miraculously, spinach for me to blend into a smoothie for my kids.
I think there's an evangelism lesson to be learned here. If we're willing to put in the effort to share our faith with a lost world, then we are planting seeds of God's kingdom. As we scatter seeds through witnessing to others we'll discover the same amazement as planting seeds in a garden. You may feel like you aren't doing much when you pass out a gospel tract or write a letter to a loved one sharing the gospel, but just as "the earth yields the crops by itself," so does our amazing God! Some plant, others water, but God gives the increase!
So the next time you feel discouraged to plant seeds of the kingdom into someone's life remember as you do your part our magnificent God will do the rest. Through faith we can, like the man who scattered seeds, marvel at the yielding of crop and at the wonderous mystery that our small effort can yield eternal fruit.
Now read 1 Corinthians 3:5-17
God's blessings,
Akiko