by Justin Morton
Jesus loved to tell stories. Those stories, often called parables, were moments where Jesus took something His hearers were familiar with and used it to teach a powerful spiritual lesson. In Mark 4:26-29, Jesus told a parable that was unique to the Gospel of Mark. In that parable, Jesus used the picture of a farmer scattering seed to teach us the importance of the Word of God in growing His Kingdom.
As Christians, we are called to scatter the seed. According to Jesus, the seed is the Word of God (Mark 4:14; Luke 8:11). Notice, we are never asked to create the seed or even to begin germinating the seed. We are simply told to “spread” the seed, the Word of God, all around, to every creature (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15).
Jesus expects His disciples to be people who go about sowing the seed in our daily lives. And while this is something we are called to do, many followers of Christ struggle to faithfully live out this important command. There may be a multitude of reasons why disciples struggle to sow the seed, but perhaps one of the more common reasons is because many people feel they are incapable of “leading someone to Jesus.” They feel as though they don’t “know enough” to help bring someone to faith in Christ. The problem with this attitude is that it places power in the wrong source. The power is not in the individual scattering the seed; the power is in the seed itself.
In the parable of the growing seed (Mark 4:26-29), the farmer scattered the seed and then Jesus said, “He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how” (Mark 4:27). The man scattered the seed and then went about his business. He did not know how the seed grew. The reason is because the power is not in the farmer, but in the seed itself.
The Hebrew writer said, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). The power is in the Word of God!
Our job is not to figure out how to get the seed to grow. Our job is simply to sow the seed and watch what happens because of the power of the seed. We must never forget the power God’s Word can have on a person’s heart. Let’s stop relying on our own ability and power to try to save people, and instead rely on the power of the Word of God.