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 the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.” [Mark 4:26–27]
It’s
beautiful to reflect upon how the Word of God changes people’s lives. This short passage above analogizes the
sharing of the Word of God with the planting of seed. The Sower goes forth and scatters seed into
the ground and then observes how that seed grows into a fruitful plant. The last 4 words are especially telling: “he
knows not how.” I think the Sower’s
lack of knowledge of how the seed grows takes a back seat to his awe at how God
accomplishes it.
So it is
with the Word of God. When that Word is
received by another, we’re blessed to be able to stand back and watch as that
Word takes root and transforms their lives. Of course, at times we may sow the Word and it
doesn’t take root. This is on account of
either the hardness of another’s heart or on account of the way in which we
sow. But when the seed of God’s Word
does take root, we should be in awe of how God works in that soul.
Think about
this reality in your own life. How did
you first receive the good seed of God’s word? Perhaps it was through a sermon, a retreat,
the reading of Scripture, a book or the witness of another. Think about how you first received God’s Word
into your life and what effect it had upon you.
Once God’s
Word has taken root in a soul, it’s a holy practice to “rise night and day” so
as to observe this seed as it grows. Specifically,
we must allow ourselves to be amazed at the mysterious way that a life is
changed, be it your own life or the life of another. It’s inspiring to observe the soul of a person
as it begins to root out sin, to seek virtue, to establish a life of prayer and
to grow in the love of God.
If this is
something to which you find it hard to relate, then perhaps it’s time to either
allow that seed of God’s Word to fall gently and deeply into the fertile ground
of your own soul or to prayerfully look for ways in which God wants to use you
to sow that seed into the heart of another. Doing the latter takes much openness to the
working of the Holy Spirit. It requires
that we allow God to inspire us so as to know how we can cooperate with His
hand in evangelization.
If you find
it difficult to ponder upon the “mystery” of a soul who goes through this
process of change and spiritual growth, it may help to turn to the lives of the
saints. The saints are among the
greatest witnesses of those who allowed God’s Word to sink deeply into their
lives so that they became new creations, transformed by God’s grace. Ponder this transforming witness and allow
yourself to be drawn into gratitude and amazement as you do.
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