Hello ICC Family!
26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
Mark 4:26-29
I thought I would share one of my favorite parables with you today because it was one of the passages last week in a daily devotional I am reading this year. I love the simple reminder in this parable that God is faithful and that He will work through his Word. He will work in us as we delight in his Word and put it into practice. In that sense, we hopefully will be the soil that He grows in. But He will also work through us as we scatter the seed of his Word to others. So, we hopefully are also the farmer that is doing the gospel work.
Being part of the kingdom of God is both passive and active. God will work in us because that is how He has designed his kingdom. We are changed to be more like Christ as we walk with him. In this parable that is pictured as growth. And as we are obedient to his call, we are able to be the means of him working in the lives of other people as well.
The devotional reading described how God’s work in us will never be in vain because God will bring to completion the good work He began in us (Philippians 1:6). But our labors in the Lord will also never be in vain because like Paul, as those called to share the gospel we will be able to say, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6).
One new insight I learned from the reading last week, though, is this… That the sower (which is us - the people of God) will one day become the reaped. Judgment comes to all of us one day. But thankfully “The giver of eternal life to us first became the giver of his life for us.” Jesus became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Praise the Lord for this good news! And help us to continue to faithfully serve him each and every day - not in our own strength, but completely trusting in his provision.
Blessings to you all. And know that I am praying for you!
Pastor Aaron
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