Good evening brethren and Happy Sabbath!  It's a beautiful day today and spring looks to be headed our way!  Of course, there's still a few more weeks of winter, but that won't stop me from looking through my seed catalogs...

Please continue reading "Jesus Christ: the Real Story."  If you already have the booklet and have been reading, this week you can begin reading chapter 7 "The Messiah's Misunderstood Mission"

It's that time of year

As I mentioned earlier, I've been looking at the seed catalog (albeit online).  I love to garden and it's a healthy hobby in more than one way.  It certainly requires labor, it provides better food, it provides opportunity to work together with family and it's a great stress reliever!

But for me, it's impossible to think about a garden without thinking about several parables from Christ: the sower and the seed, the workers in the vineyard and the mustard seed to name a few.  But the one that comes to mind more often than not, is of the growing seed, found in Mark 4:26-29 (KJV):

"And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.  But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come."

As with most parables, we could probably take multiple lessons from this, but the one that jumps out at me is the fact that while I sleep at night, that seed is growing!  And although there are things I can do that might either help or hinder its growth, the basic fact that it "knows" when to start growing is something I can't tell it do.

The kingdom of God IS growing

The parallel to the kingdom of God is clear:  Yes, we have a role to play both in preaching the gospel and preparing ourselves for the return of Christ, but the fact that He will return is something you and I can't alter.  In that sense, the Kingdom of God is growing right now, whether we are awake, asleep or doing things we should be doing or not.

As our minds begin to turn toward the garden and other thoughts of spring, let us not forget the coming spring Holy Days.  They are a time take stock of our lives and draw closer to God.  But in addition to that, they are a time to reflect on the wonderful fact that the Kingdom of God IS growing!