Mark 4:26-29 God is Always Working

First Things: Devotions in Mark’s Gospel

Mark 4:26-29 God is Always Working

Mark 4:26   And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; ²⁷ and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows — how, he himself does not know. ²⁸ “The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. ²⁹ “But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

In this parable, it appears that you and I show up at the beginning and the end. Truthfully, when we read our Bibles, we always want to place ourselves right in the middle, and in the best light, no less.

At the beginning of the parable, we “cast seed upon the soil.” Pretty noble of us, right? But that’s all we are doing, just chucking seed. If we are like the sowers of seed in the earlier parable, we don’t even have very good aim. Some went on the road, some of the rocks, some among thorns, and only a little made it to the good ground. Seems like God could have found better sowers. But that’s our role, and we actually are never told to “target” the seed, the way the consultants tell churches they must do.

We show up at the end of this parable also. Once the growth has occurred, we “put in the sickle.” We cut the mature grain, and do the other things, I assume, that have to be done to grain (though I’m no farmer). Somehow it needs to bundled or baled and brought into the barn. I assume we are supposed to do that.

So the process is all about us, right? Not by a long shot. We show up at the beginning and the end, but God occupies the middle. In the parable, “production” comes not from us, but from the seed, from the soil, from the dynamic that was placed in them by the Creator. We are told that the sun shines and the rain rains because of the goodness of the Creator. He has much more to do with the harvest than do we. 

And even before the beginning, before we do our seed-chucking, God is there. Where did the soil come from? The farmer didn’t provide it. He may have cleared it and plowed it. But God gave the soil. Where did the seed come from? God gave the seed, though future generations may save some from earlier harvests. Ultimately, we have to admit, it all comes from God.

When it comes down to it, our work is a part, but a very small part. We work a bit, but the major portion is from God. Our work is really a small project on the back of God’s plans and purposes. 

So we need to remember, whatever we do, God was there first; God will be there after; and everything we do is dependent on God always working.