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Gospel: Mark 4: 26-34
Jesus said to the crowds:
“This is how it is with the Kingdom of God;
it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land
and would sleep and rise night and day
and the seed would sprout and grow,
he knows not how.
Of its own accord the land yields fruit,
first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once,
for the harvest has come.”
He said,
“To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God,
or what parable can we use for it?
It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground,
is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.
But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants
and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”
With many such parables
he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it.
Without parables he did not speak to them,
but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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“This is how it is with the Kingdom of God,” Jesus says. “It is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.”
There are three stages leading to this sower’s harvest: first, he scatters the seed. Secondly, the harvest grows. Finally, he reaps what he’s sown.
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Human beings tend to be good at steps one and three: We know how to work. We know how to reap.
Often, what we struggle with is step number two: waiting.
This is the period when God intervenes. Without any effort of our own, the rains fall, the sun rises and sets, the seeds split open, grow, and begin to bear fruit.
Once the work of nature is complete, we reap what we’ve sown.
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Notice Jesus never describes the sower as anxious, stressed, or depressed. Rather, he sleeps at night and rises by day, waiting for nature to run its course. In the end, his reward comes.
Similarly, once we place our lives – or a particular intention – into God’s hands, there’s nothing else we need to do but wait.
Allow the Spirit to change our hearts, our circumstances, or the world around us. When the harvest is ready – or the prayer is answered – we’ll collect the fruit.
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What’s something I’m waiting for?
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Once you’ve scattered the seed, trust in God to do his part. The harvest will come, even though, “we know not how.”
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Image credits: (1) Living the Everyday (2) The North American Anglican (3) Church in the Acres