Farmers work hard. They worked even harder in Jesus’s time, but for all the work they did, they couldn’t make a plant grow—even today’s farmers cannot make a plant grow. What is the farmer’s job then? To help the plant grow. A farmer removes obstacles to a plant’s growth, like weeds. The farmer also gives the plant what it needs to grow and be healthy, if necessary, like water and fertilizer. The farmer provides the best conditions for the plant to grow and the plant responds by growing. Jesus tells me that his kingdom is like this. I don’t make it grow. God does. My job is to provide the best conditions for the kingdom to grow, first of all in my heart and then in the hearts of those around me.
God can bring amazing results from small beginnings. When the right conditions are present, the growth of the kingdom is amazing. Jesus was emphasizing how small the beginning of the Church would be. So small as to be almost invisible, the Church would grow to provide shelter to Catholics for thousands of years. I refresh my memory about it again and again. No my influences and personal character is so important, but acts of the Church and mine as growing inside of the body of Christ.
Lord, today by your grace I will study something about my faith so that I know it a little bit better, and can be more faithful in the way I live my life and help those who ask me about my faith.
God can bring amazing results from small beginnings
