At the time of writing this, about two feet of snow remain on the ground in the area where our small raised garden is supposed to be. As there was already snow on the ground when we moved here, I have not seen it yet, and I only remember it from the times when we looked at this house with the idea of buying it. But as spring approaches, I am looking forward to having at least a small garden. That made me think of the way seeds germinate and how plants multiply, and that made me think of some of the parables about sowing seeds which Jesus told the people.

For the past while, I have been studying some of those parables. I really like the one about the seeds growing at night.

Mark 4:26-28 – 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. (NKJV)

The soil is prepared, the seeds are sown, the earth is watered and fertilized, and then the seeds germinate and start to grow—there is nothing more that we can do about it; it just happens. That is the way it is with the Word of God so often. At some point in their lives, many people hear the Word, perhaps at home or from friends, or in Sunday school or church, and gradually, they realize that this Word has meaning for them, and they believe the Word.

Back in the late 1940s, a family of new immigrants from the Netherlands came to this area. They had never been to church in their lives, never. But they were homesick, they could not speak the language, and they longed to speak to other Dutch people, so they came to church, quite some distance from where they lived. They kept coming for the fellowship mostly. It gave them the opportunity to commiserate with others in similar situations and to make new friends. It was something they looked forward to all week. But in the process, they discovered that the Word that they heard in church, the hymns that they sang, and the message in them became important to them; they believed. We joined the church and have been faithful members for the rest of our lives.

As Jesus said in the parable of the sower, “These are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” (Mark 4:20 NKJV)

After His resurrection, Jesus gave us the mandate to bring the good news of the gospel to all people. As the parables tell us, we need to prepare the people and bring the Word in a way that is meaningful and easy to understand, and then, we are assured that the seeds of faith will grow, here and everywhere.

Prayer: Our Father in heaven, as we sow the seeds of faith, each one of us in our own way, we pray that You will be with us and with those who hear the Word and that they will indeed believe and then also spread the Word, to the best of their ability. We ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Joel Jongkind
Meaford, Ontario, Canada

Thanks to PresbyCan Daily Devotional