“The Kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how”.
Mark 4:26-27
Seeing the fruit of our labor always brings us great joy. There’s nothing better than knowing that all our hard work is paid off; we get encouraged and motivated to do even better!
“Laboring” for the Kingdom of God and seeing its fruit can bring us the same joy, knowing that what we do for its sake is pleasing to the Father and has eternal consequences.
Sharing the Gospel with others and participating in planting seeds in their hearts brings joy that’s like no other. Watching the seeds grow makes us feel useful and important in the eyes of our Father.
Sometimes, however, if we are not led by the Spirit but by our sinful nature (which is always selfish), our desire to labor for the Kingdom may turn into our obsession over the numbers of people we want to reach. A heart that is filled with the Holy Spirit certainly becomes led to share the joy of knowing Jesus with others. But the problem occurs when we believe that we can contribute to the salvation of others and take credit for that.
We begin to preach a Gospel that is more appealing than true. We preach what people want to hear, rather than what they must know.
Our own hearts get farther away from Jesus, and, therefore, far away from the truth.
The Parable of the Growing Seed teaches us that God is using us to plant a seed, but He is the one who grows it when we don’t see it.
We may meet someone for the first time and never see them again, but what we say and the impression of a Christ follower we show to them may have long-term consequences. We might never know that, they may never come to believe in Jesus, and yet we must do our part with the joyful heart, knowing that that’s God’s will for us.
We are not called to save the world, but to point it to the One who saves.
And He saves whom He wants to be saved.
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