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 through it all the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.” Mark 4:26–27

What a beautiful image of the sprouting, growing and coming to fruition of the Kingdom of God in our midst!

God wills that His Kingdom come. We pray this in the Lord’s Prayer. What does it mean when we pray for His Kingdom to come? First, it means that God wants to come and dwell within us, establishing His Kingdom within our hearts and souls. We must become living members of His Kingdom, and He must be our Ruler and Guide.

Second, we understand this to be the establishment of His laws and will in our world. This means that the social, political and cultural order must be transformed by God’s grace so as to participate in and bear the fruit of His Kingdom. We have work to do!

Third, it means that we anticipate the final and glorious coming of His Kingdom when Jesus returns in splendor and glory. In the end, all things will be transformed, and God will bring forth His final judgment upon the world, making all things new.

But this passage above especially reveals to us “how” this will happen. It reveals that God’s Kingdom will slowly, gently and miraculously take hold. This will happen in our lives, it will happen in our world as we Christians commit ourselves to this work, and it will miraculously happen at the end of time when Jesus returns.

Think about this image Jesus gives us. The farmer plants the seed and slowly it sprouts, grows and produces fruit. As this happens, the farmer “knows not how.”

Reflect, today, upon the mysterious ways that God establishes His Kingdom. He is in charge of it first and foremost. But you must do your part. You must make your heart and world around you fertile ground. You must plant the seed, water it as needed but then let God do His part. God wants to bring forth His Kingdom in your life and in the world far more than any of us. But if you do your part, you also will be amazed as you watch grow His glorious handiwork of grace.

Lord, help my heart to be fertile soil for Your Kingdom. Help me to allow You to grow Your Kingdom in my heart and help me to be an instrument of that Kingdom in our world. Jesus, I trust in You.

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