THE CYCLE OF CHRISTIAN LIFE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

Mark 4:26-29

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

You may remember the parable of the sower. As Jesus explained His teaching, He said this:

“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God…the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.” Luke 8:11,15

I remember when the seed was sown in my life, the good seed that took root and produced a crop of righteousness within me. It happened right when my wife and I had just met. We were talking about starting a relationship with one another and she said these words:

“The Lord needs to be first in everything.”

There was only one problem.

I wasn’t living in the Lord at the time.

So what did I do?

Well, given that I wanted to be with this woman I would go on to marry, I started to go to church with her and read a Bible for the first time in a long time. I started to listen to Christian music as well and watch sermons that were preached on television between Sunday worship services.

The seed, the word of God, was planted and the soil was good because my heart and mind were in full receive mode and I found myself ever hungry to hear and learn more about the Jesus who came to save me. And as I heard the Word and retained it, persevering along the way, a crop was being produced, a new Christian creation was born.

Indeed, the Christian life cycle begins when one chooses to accept and receive Jesus as Savior, hearing the Gospel and retaining it as it becomes a wellspring of hope within them. This spiritual renaissance within a person that matures in growth started when someone planted the seed of salvation’s source in them, a seed that takes root in the fertile soil of a new believer and begins to grow.

As we look at today’s passage from the Gospel of Mark, we find Jesus talking more about this budding seed that has taken root as it grows to full maturity. Through His words, we are shown the full cycle of Christian life revealed:

He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”  Mark 4:26-29

All Christians are called to sow the seeds of the Gospel within every day that the Lord grants them. So often, that sower doesn’t see the fruits of their labors. They scatter seeds of the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ but are rarely present when those seeds actually sprout and begin to grow. If they were, they would see what Jesus described, a believer who would grow incrementally in their faith as they matured spiritually through their lives, first the stalk emerging from the sprout which came from the seed. This would be followed by the head developing and then the full kernel in the head from which grain would develop, the grain being the desired end product of the person who sowed in the first place and the Lord who called on Him to sow. This fully developed plant represents the fully developed Christian believer, ready to now become a sower for his Lord, the Master Gardener. And He will continue to carry his sowing duties until such a day that the Lord deems his temporary, earthly life is over, the day that He will harvest the faithful, dedicated Christian to come and abide with Him forever in the storehouse represented by the kingdom of God.

As I read this, I couldn’t help but look back and watch the way I have developed as a Christian, first the seed and then the sprout, the stalk and then the head which bore the full kernel in the head that would bear grain at full maturity. Now as I continue to do the Lord’s work and sow seeds daily through this ministry, I do so fully aware that I will be harvested one day, the day the Lord retires me and brings me into His glory. My only hope as I complete my Christian cycle of life is that I will have sown enough seeds to help others sprout and grow to take my place.

Indeed, if Christians sow seeds as the Lord commands, there should be a perpetual harvest, an abundant harvest of mature believers committed to Jesus until that day when He returns and makes all things new.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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