Using words as needed

Luke 13:18-21

“What is the kingdom of God like?”  Jesus ask that question but it was a rhetorical question, He was not looking for information, and this is clear in that He gives an answer.   But before answering Jesus adds this question: “And to what shall I compare it?”  Have you wondered what the kingdom of God is like, will I be happy in His kingdom, will I have freedom, and will I be needed?

Jesus gives many accounts of the kingdom of God, this is from Luke 13:19-20, “It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”  Jesus is telling you and I that it is going to begin small but it is going to grow where the whole world will find rest in it branches.  My friend Bill would often say imagine the kingdom of God 12” above the ground, we often miss out on the kingdom of God because the cares of the world ensnare us.  Jesus also used leaven to show how the kingdom of God would advance, now most of the time that leaven is used in Scripture it is referring to evil, but in this case Jesus is showing how yeast in a large part of flour can cause it to grow, as will the kingdom of God.  “And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

I spend a good amount of time in my garden, and a gardener does not just throw seeds on the ground, he gets the ground ready and plants the seed.  But I do identify with the gospel of Mark’s account of Jesus talking about the kingdom of heaven, this is the account;  “And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” (Mark 4:26-29 ESV)

When I wanted bluebonnets in my side yard by the garden, I like the man in Jesus’ story scattered the seeds on the ground.  For months I could only hope they had not all been eaten by bugs and birds and then in the fall of the year I began to see blades coming up out of the ground, it was not until late March that the flower, what we call the bluebonnet in Texas came forth and then the seeds.  With death comes life, have you noticed that, for the flower withers and dies, the plant dies and the pods that hold life burst open and the seeds for the next years bluebonnets are spread all over the area.

As a follower of Christ should we be any less than a bluebonnet?  We have the seed of life living in us, but I’ve noticed that when my life is full of self, my faith is weak, my story of what Jesus is doing in my life is also weak, but when I die to myself and ask Jesus to do it all through me, the seed of life explodes from my person into those who are around.   I believe that is what Bill meant by living your life as if the kingdom of God is 12” above the ground.  Oh yes, the answer to my earlier questions; will I be happy in His kingdom, will I have freedom, and will I be needed?  Yes, each day I can experience joy, freedom, and be part of my Fathers plan to tell the world about Jesus.  As someone said, even use words when needed.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice