PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED.
"The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." ( Matthew 13:31-32) The ground work for the Kingdom of God began with the preaching of the gospel by John the Baptist, since it was to him that 'the word of God came' (Luke 3:2) while 'he lived in the desert until he appeared publically to Israel'. (Luke 1:80) The task assigned to him looked humongous (huge; enormous); to lay the foundation of the Kingdom of God! John started very small, like the man who planted a mustard seed in his garden. 'In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near."' (Matthew 3:1-2) Little did the people who flocked to hear him, realise that the kingdom of God that John preached would eventually grow up to encompass (to surround) the whole world! That is why Scripture says not to 'despise the day of small beginnings' (Zechariah 4:10) There are those who think that everything they do must be big enough to make an impact. Need not necessarily be true! Rather, "Think big, start small. Think global, start local." There are also those who think of the knowledge of the Gospel as being unimportant compared to knowledge of the world, yet more books have been written about this one man called Jesus, than about any other man in the history of the world. 'Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.' ( John 21:25) Many have come to find solace ( comfort or consolation in a time of distress or sadness) in the Kingdom, just as Jesus said about the birds that perched in its branches. 'For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.' (Romans 1:18) 'For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.' ( Vs 21) In his dream, Nebuchadnezzar saw 'a rock cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet ... The rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.' ( Daniel 2:34-35) Infact the fall of the Roman Empire began with the rise of the Kingdom of God. Since then empires have come and gone but the Kingdom of God prevails and in eternity, the kingdom of God is the only entity that will exist. Yet its origin was small, just like the mustard seed, which grew to become the largest of garden plants. We might be so insignificant to make a difference in this world yet the Gospel we preach has the potential to revolutionize the world. Are we so ashamed of the Gospel that we shy away from sharing it with our friends and family? If we truly love them and care about their eternity, how can we shy away? 'I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.' ( Romans 1:16) Amen.
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