A Harvest Will Come

Seed to Harvest

In the parable of the Growing Seed the farmer is involved in the work at the beginning and at the end. We notice in Mark 4:29 that the patient farmer puts the sickle in. We do have a small part to play, but the bulk of the enterprise is God's doing. Human manipulation does not cause kingdom growth. Obedience to law, works of social justice, apocalyptic predictions and other human efforts are not the main cause of kingdom growth.

Can we patiently wait for God to cause the seeds to sprout, the sprouts to grow into a stalk, the stalk to become a head, and the head to ripen into a full kernel? If this riddle pictures God's rule in our lives, then is it picturing a long period of apparent inaction? Yet, despite appearances the kingdom of God is growing, and a harvest will come. That's what Jesus said.