Living In Hope: Mark 4: 30-32

                                                   The Mustard Seed

Mark 4: 30-32 And 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." 

Hi friends. Mark 4 is the parable chapter. In this chapter Jesus compares His Kingdom Word to a grain of seed. In the first eight verses we have the famous parable of the sower scattering the seed. The birds ate some, some fell on rocky soil, some fell among thorns, yet others fell on good ground and produced a good crop. When His disciples asked Him what the parable meant, He replied, "Do you not understand the parable? How then will you understand any parables? The farmer sows the Word." 

Out of all the parables and illustrations in this chapter, my favorite is found in verses 30-32. 

The Kingdom Word is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds, yet when planted it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants. 

There are a variety of ways we can apply this, yet here is my favorite. 

Sometimes the Lord plants a Word in our heart and compared to all the other desires in our heart it is the littlest seed. For example, the Lord plants a Word in our heart about meekness and humility. However, seeing the pride in our heart we groan and say, "Oh, God, I see the pride and envy in my heart and it seems so great, and humility seems so small. It seems like that seed of humility you planted is going to be swallowed up by all my pride, arrogance and egotism." But the Lord answers back, "I am going to nurture that tiny seed of humility and it is going to grow and grow until one day it shines from your life. People are going to see the meekness and humility in your life and say to themselves, "This is truly a meek man." "This is truly a humble woman." 

I remember many years ago when I was a student in bible school, I was suddenly confronted with the pride of my heart. What an egomaniac! I grieved over the arrogance I saw in my life. I prayed about it. Then one day the Lord dropped a book into my lap by Andrew Murray simply entitled "Humility." 

I read it and from the opening page my heart leapt: "Oh God! This is what I want!" 

Little did I know the seed was planted. For many days I prayed for the beauty of humility in my heart. 

One morning as I was in line getting breakfast, another student approached me. She smiled real big and said, "You were in my dream last night. I saw you in a crowd of people and no one was paying any attention to you. I don't know what it means but I sense it was from the Lord."

Right there I almost shouted. When she walked away I knew it was God's way of telling me He was answering my prayer. "One day I will be humble enough not to care about who sees me and who don't. I won't be concerned with who pays me any attention and who don't. My ego won't be bruised when I am unnoticed, overlooked or ignored. My heart will truly rejoice when others are noticed and elevated while I am still hidden in the background. Thank you God, for answering my prayer!"

Again, sometimes God will plant a seed in your heart and compared to all the other carnal desires it looks so small. But the Lord will be faithful to water and nourish that seed until it grows to be a great virtue shining from your life. 

Even today when I hear someone call me "a humble man" I almost gasp. The work God has performed in my heart is truly remarkable. Yes, I still battle with pride, but I truly am not the man I used to be.

Praise the Lord!