Daily Devotional

February 13th, 2024
by Pastor Greg Warmerdam

He Knows Not How

Mark 4:26–29 - "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.'" (ESV)

I grew up on a farm on the outskirts of the city of Fresno. In addition to the 10 acres of peaches, my dad farmed in between teaching school teaching and coaching demands, each of us kids got our own garden area to grow what we wanted.

We picked our packets of seeds, to grow corn or squash or cucumbers, or whatever. We would stake the empty packet at the end of the row, waiting for the live plant to show up. It was always a wonder and a joy to me. I loved seeing the first little shoots poking up out of the ground. I went out every day to look. I was intrigued by the development of the little plants.

In today’s passage about the kingdom of God, it is likened to a man scattering seed on the ground. He sleeps and goes about his days. All the while the seeds are rousing themselves. They sprout and grow. However, the word says of the man who scattered the seed, “He know not how.” It is declared that the earth produces by itself. Did you know that the germination of seeds is still a mystery? A lot is known about what conditions to put the seeds in so they germinate. But it is not known how the seed “knows” to restart from a dried, hibernating kind of state. Seeds even over 1,000 years old have germinated once given the right conditions.

Such is the kingdom of God, says the word. It refers not to the seeds of plants but to the God’s word as seed. This may mean salvation as it does in this parable in chapter four. But it can also be the word of counsel for a life situation, for a marriage, or for a business or family harmony. Why does the word sown only sometimes lead to salvation? We know not. Why are only some lives and marriages turned around? We know not. But our job is to sow, and keep sowing. The seed of the word is good, but not all soils are. Our job is to keep sowing, watering, praying and encouraging. We will bear fruit, if we do not grow weary and give up. (Galatians 6:9)

I leave you with this story. A lady in our church in Reedley invited her friend to attend church. She declined. She invited her again, but she did not come. She invited her about seven times! Still a no-show. But unbeknownst to her the one invited said to herself, “If she invites me again, I will go.”

The good news is that she did invite her once more, and she came! She was saved and did much good, impacting her whole family, and blessing the church and the community. So let us keep scattering the seed of the word, and let God work His mystery of germination. We know not how.

READ: Mark 4
SING: "So Send I You", E. Margaret Clarkson (John W. Peterson)
PRAY: Isaiah 6

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