And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.  He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.  The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.  But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Mark 4:26-29

We all want to grow spiritually, but sometimes we get frustrated with ourselves.  We ask ourselves, “Am I truly growing as I should?  It seems to me that real spiritual growth would happen a lot quicker than it is happening with me.”

Come to think of it, how exactly DOES spiritual growth happen?  What are the logistics behind it?  What causes it?  Why?

We want to look behind the scenes, and we can’t…at least not as much as we would like.

The above parable is all about spiritual growth.  In breaking it down, we see that the seed is likely God’s Word (cf. Mk. 4:14; Lk. 8:11; 1 Pet. 1:23).

Now, it’s true that there are things we need besides the seed which is God’s Word in order to grow spiritually.  For example, we must have honest and good hearts (Lk. 8:15).  In the parable of the sower, the seed did not produce the desired fruit unless it fell on that good soil, the soil of honest and good hearts.

Yet, honest and good hearts cannot bear fruit by themselves.  The soil needs the seed, because the seed has within itself the power to germinate and grow in good soil.  In like manner, our honest and good hearts need God’s Word in order to truly grow like God wants us to.

Not only that, but it also takes time for a seed to sprout and grow into a plant and produce fruit.  It doesn’t happen overnight.  It’s gradual.  As the parable alludes, it takes time, lots of time (cf. Mk . 4:28).  That can be frustrating because there are so many things we are used to having on demand, like information from the Internet or food from a drive-thru or microwave.  Why can’t spiritual growth be like that?  But that’s how God made it.

As hinted by the parable, we may not understand exactly the true working of the power God’s Word uses to help us grow (cf. Mk. 4:26-28).  But we do know by faith that God’s Word contains the power for spiritual life and growth when it is planted in an honest and good heart.  We can use that to help us grow spiritually, and we must do so more and more in our lives.

God’s Word is powerful (Heb. 4:12).  It is filled with Spirit-giving life (John 6:63).  It is the reason behind us being born again (1 Pet. 1:22-25).  It is the instrument God uses to save our souls (James 1:21).

Each of us wants to grow closer to God and to grow spiritually.  If that is to happen, we MUST  receive the seed of God’s Word into our own hearts, and our own hearts must be honest and open to the message of that Word, regardless of what it is (Lk. 8:15; Acts 17:11).  The only way that will happen is if we are humble (James 1:21) and long for God’s Word the same way babies long for milk (1 Pet. 2:2).

Only then will we grow spiritually…and again, it won’t be overnight or instantaneous.  It will take time.  “First the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear” (Mk. 4:28).  Thus, we must continue to feed upon God’s Word (1 Pet. 2:2).

This applies not only to individual Christians, but to the church also.  If a church wants to grow spiritually as a congregation as well as in numbers, they must sow the seed of God’s Word as far and as wide as they possibly can through evangelism.  Growth only comes through the divine power of God’s Word (1 Cor. 3:5-7).

And as before, that growth will be gradual and take time.  Sometimes church members might feel like all they’re doing is sowing.  Sometimes it will seem like all they’re doing is waiting.  In that way we must be like farmer, who wait all the time for the seed to sprout and harvest to come (cf. James 5:7).  We must be patient and trust that the harvest will come.

That’s the point of this parable.  We must trust and hope in the power of the Word of God (Rom. 1:16).  Do we?