Mustard Seed

“Again he said, “what shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”  

-Mark 4:30-32

Mustard Seed - Condensed Video Version

I am amazed by the miracle of new life. I look at our grandson’s tiny hands and feet. He is a tiny little human with tiny little features, yet he has everything within him necessary to grow into an adult. He as all the parts of humanity, God has encoded and programmed his cells to multiply and work together according to His wondrous plan. Given time, nutrients and support he will grow physically, and given proper spiritual nutrients and support, God’s presence will grow within him as well.

Scripture often uses physical images to portray spiritual realities. In the so-called Love Chapter, Paul paints an analogy between his progression from childhood and his spiritual transformation, writing, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:11-12). Similar to our physical growth, we are growing spiritually in Jesus Christ, and as we grow we put away things from our former life. The image suggests that spiritual progression moves in a single direction – just as fully-grown adults do not revert back into infants, people moving towards spiritual maturity do not revert.

Similarly, Jesus used the image of a mustard seed to describe the growth potential of the kingdom of God. A mustard seed is a tiny little seed, and, like an infant, it contains everything necessary to grow into the largest plant in the garden. God has encoded and programmed the seed such that, given time, nutrients and support, it will grow large enough to support perching birds. It is designed to grow in a single direction – after the seed sprouts and begins to grow, it cannot revert back into a seed.

So it is with the kingdom of God. Given fertile soil, nutrients, support and time, God’s holy seeds grow and our spirits are transformed and we experience His holy touch on our lives and we cannot go back. Once we experience God’s holy grace, once we know with certainty that He is with us, that He is who He says He is, that He really dwells within us, we cannot go back to the place we were before. The power of the Holy Spirit is within you, me, us. Once we experience Him, we cannot go back.

May the kingdom of God grow into a mighty oak within you. May you continue on the path to spiritual adulthood. May you breathe in God’s holy presence with each breath you take, may you invite Him into your heart in a new and refreshed way, may you experience His wholeness, may the kingdom of God grow within you.