Scripture – Genesis 1:11-12 (NRSV)

“Then God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.’ And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good.”

Devotion

In yesterday’s devotion, we considered the implications of God’s creating plants that contain seeds. From small and apparently insignificant seeds grows fruitful and beautiful vegetation, such as bluebonnets in Texas.

I can’t move on from this consideration of seeds without making a connection to the New Testament. The God of literal seeds in Genesis is the God of metaphorical seeds in the Gospel of Mark. There, Jesus uses seeds to represent the good news of the kingdom of God (Mark 4:3-9). As the seeds are sown, some fall into fertile soil in which they flourish, “growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold” (Mark 4:8).

Once again, I’m impressed by the fact that apparently insignificant little seeds produce such impressive fruit. Jesus underscores the contrast between the smallness of kingdom seeds and the greatness of kingdom produce in the parable of the mustard seed. There, from “the smallest of all the seeds on earth” grows “the greatest of all shrubs” (Mark 4:30-32).

As I think of how God uses tiny seeds from which to grow the kingdom, I’m reminded of how easy it is for some of us to devalue our contribution to God’s work because it isn’t big enough, spectacular enough, or successful enough. We fall into the trap of worldly thinking rather than kingdom thinking, believing that we don’t matter because our “seeds” are tiny. Yet, if we take seriously the God of seeds, if we pay attention to what Jesus said about seeds, then we’ll be encouraged to sow our tiny seeds without embarrassment or hesitation.

No matter the work you have to do today, God will sow seeds through you. Your job is to be a faithful sower, leaving the growth to God, who will use the seeds of your life for his kingdom purposes.

Reflect

Do you ever think of your life as sowing seeds of the kingdom of God? Are you tempted to devalue your “sowing” because your seeds are small and insignificant? If you really believed that God will use your seeds for kingdom purposes, how might this affect the way you live and lead today?

Pray

Again, O God, we thank you for being a “God of seeds.” Thank you for choosing to use that which is small for your great purposes. This encourages me, Lord, not to worry about the size of what I’m doing, but rather to focus on its character. May everything I do today – every decision, every interaction, every word, every deed – be a seed for your kingdom. Amen.

P.S. from Mark

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Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project online commentary. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: God Sees that His Work Is Good (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31)