By Janice Goodlin
Our 16 year-old son and 3 year-old son….
Have you ever read scripture, knowing you had read a passage before, but this time as you read it, it came to life, blooming, like a fresh budding flower in you heart, brand-new like spring?
That happened to me recently when I was reading Mark 4 verses 26~29 to my children. As I read the passages in Mark 4, the verses in 1 Corinthians 3 came to my mind, and finally I remember reading the beginning of Mark just days before about the parable of the sower. My heart eventually put everything together. I love how the Holy Spirit and God’s word work like that! I love The Lord and His word so much, and I’m very thankful for His mercy and wisdom!
OK, so here is my circle of thought with this new spring flower of God’s word… I am a parent planting seeds of God’s word in my precious children’s life all day, every day, night and day…. As they grow, I see fruit and I marvel… Where did that come from?! Joy fills me! But then I’m humbled. Because I know of all of the times I’ve planted seeds, and of all of the weeds I’ve helped them to pull in their lives, I really am nothing. I have made so many mistakes. Every. Single. Day. I know it and they know it. The truth is, God gave that increase for His glory and His Kingdom!
I encourage you to read the passages for yourself below. Be encouraged in the word and work of the Lord! Be humble, repent often when you fail, never give up planting seeds, watering, and pulling weeds in the hearts of your children, but remember and WAIT on the Lord for those seeds to grow and give HIM all the glory when they do!!!
“He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.””
Mark 4:26-29
As we plant the seeds of the Kingdom and we see fruit growing, we marvel… harvest has come!
“Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?
Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.””
Mark 4:13, 15-20
As our precious children hear the gospel daily, receive the teaching of Jesus our Savior, and choose to follow it, a crop is produced!
“What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.”
1 Corinthians 3:5-9
As parents, we are only servants- as the Lord assigns each task… We plant seeds, we water, we help to weed… We are servants of God, co-workers in God’s service. Any fruit we see is from the Lord! Any Harvest comes from Him for His Glory, for His Kingdom, and by His power!
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For THINE is the kingdom, and the power, and the GLORY, for ever. Amen.”
Matthew 6:13
Journey to Jesus 
When we desire to take credit or feel discouraged and defeated by our failures, we are putting too much emphasis on ourselves and our performance and not enough emphasis on the redemptive POWER of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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