Daily devotion – the parables of Jesus
Mark 4: 26 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27 and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28 For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
This parable is only found in Mark’s Gospel. It summons us to an examination of our own experience in the things of the Lord.
The main agenda taught in this parable is the close resemblance between some familiar operations in the culture of grain and the working of grace in our hearts.
Firstly, as in the growth of the grain, so in the work of grace, there must be a Sower. “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground….”
The earth as we all know, never brings forth grain of itself. It is a mother of weeds but not of wheat. So the hand of man must plough the soil and sow the seed, or else there would be no harvest.
Likewise, the heart of natural man will never turn itself to God and repent, believe and obey. It is barren of grace – Romans 3:10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one.”
The Son of Man must break up the soil – our hearts – by His Spirit and give it a new nature. Then He must scatter over it by the hand of His labouring ministers the good seed of the Word.
Secondly, as in the growth of grain, so in the work of grace, there is much that is beyond man’s comprehension and control.
The smartest farmer on earth can never really explain all that takes place in a grain of wheat when he has sown it. He knows the overall actions that will occur, but he cannot command the prosperity of each grain. Why some grain comes up and others die! Nor can the farmer specify the hour or the minute when life will begin from the grain and reveal itself.
There are matters he must leave alone. He sows and leaves the growth to God. It is God who causes the growth – 1Co 3:7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
The working of grace in the heart of a man or woman is utterly mysterious and unsearchable. We cannot explain why the Word of God produces effects on one person in a Church congregation and not upon another.
The highest abilities, the most powerful preaching, the most diligent working cannot command success. We see this even in the preaching of the Son of God to the multitudes.
Thirdly, in the growth of the grain, so in the working of grace in an individual’s life, it manifests itself gradually.
The plant goes through many stages before it arrives at perfection – first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. Yet in all of these stages one great thing is true about it: even at its weakest, it is a living plant!
So too, the work of grace in our lives. It goes by degrees. Let us not despise grace because it is weak, or think people are not converted because they are not yet strong in the faith as Paul.
Grace like everything else must and does have a beginning. Even the mightiest oak was once an acorn!
Lastly, as in the growth of grain, so in the work of grace, there is no harvest until the seed is ripe. No farmer begins his harvest when the wheat in his field is green. He waits until the sun, and rain, and heat, and cold have done their appointed work, and the heads of grain a loaded with grain and hanging down. Then the harvest is ready to be gathered and placed in his barn.
God deals with His work of grace exactly the same way. He never removes His people from the world until they are ripe and ready. He never takes them away until their work is done. They never die at the wrong time; however mysterious their deaths appear sometimes to man.
Let us move on from this parable to the next with the truth in our minds and take comfort about the death of every believer. Let us rest comforted by the knowledge that there is no chance, no accident, and no mistake about the decease of any of God’s children!
They are all God’s field, and God knows best when they are ready for the harvest.