The Seeds
Have you ever planted something from a seed packet? I remember those elementary-school experiments where we planted seeds in cut-off milk containers and put them on the windowsill. Within a few days, a tiny green sprout would appear.
There is something remarkable about seeds. Something so small can become something enormous—a cucumber seed becoming a sprawling vine, or a pumpkin seed eventually producing a 1,500-pound pumpkin. It all begins with something you could hold between your fingers.
Jesus seems to love that image.
As we continue through Mark’s Gospel, we keep hearing Jesus talk about his favourite subject: the kingdom of God. And in Mark 4, Jesus tells two stories about seeds to help us understand how the kingdom works.
The Kingdom Grows
Jesus says the kingdom is like a farmer scattering seed. Then the farmer goes about his life—sleeping, waking, working—while the seed quietly grows.
And then comes one of my favourite lines: “though he does not know how.”
The farmer plants. The farmer participates. But the farmer cannot make the seed grow.
That is a pretty good description of life with God.
We plant. We water. We pray. We teach. We encourage. We serve. We love people. But ultimately, we cannot manufacture spiritual growth.
You can’t make someone forgive you. You can’t make someone love you. You can’t make someone believe. You can’t force transformation.
You can create conditions where growth can happen. You can plant seeds. You can nurture them. But growth is a gift.
Paul says it beautifully: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:6)
Our job is faithfulness. God is responsible for the growth.
Don’t Underestimate Small Beginnings
Jesus follows this with another seed story—the mustard seed. He isn’t giving a botany lesson; he’s using a familiar image of something tiny becoming something substantial.
And that’s the point: don’t underestimate small beginnings.
God seems remarkably comfortable starting small.
A baby in Bethlehem. Twelve disciples. A carpenter from Nazareth. A conversation beside a well. A meal with a tax collector. A handful of loaves and fish. A mustard seed.
We often assume that if something matters, it needs to start big. But the kingdom of God often begins in ways that are almost invisible.
Maybe you’re teaching your children something about faith. Maybe you’re praying for someone. Maybe you’re rebuilding your relationship with God. Maybe you’re taking one small step toward forgiveness. Maybe you’re serving in a ministry that doesn’t seem particularly glamorous.
Don’t assume that because something feels small, it doesn’t matter.
Small doesn’t mean insignificant.
What Are You Planting?
Whether we realize it or not, we’re all planting something.
Every conversation. Every decision. Every interaction with our children. Every response to conflict. Every use of our money. Every act of generosity or selfishness. Every choice to forgive or hold onto resentment.
The question isn’t whether we’re planting seeds.
What kind of seeds are we planting?
What are our children learning from watching us? What are our friends learning about Jesus from the way we treat them? What kind of kingdom are our lives pointing toward?
And sometimes we won’t see the harvest.
You might encourage someone today and never know what your words meant to them. You might teach a child something about faith and only see the fruit decades later. You might invite someone into community and never realize that it changed their life.
That’s okay.
The goal isn’t to get credit. The goal is faithfulness.
Leave the Growth to God
I’ve had to learn this in my own life. There was a time when I felt responsible for making sure my neighbours who didn’t know Jesus somehow crossed the finish line of faith. Eventually, I realized that my job wasn’t to turn people into projects. My job was to love them, serve them, pray for them, point them toward Jesus—and trust God with the rest.
Because God wants people to know him even more than I do.
That is incredibly freeing.
We aren’t called to carry the entire weight of God’s work on our shoulders. We plant. We water. We nurture. And then sometimes, we go to bed and trust that God is still working while we sleep.
Jesus’ own story demonstrates this. His ministry began with what looked like very little: a handful of followers, teaching in villages, healing people and announcing God’s kingdom. Then it appeared to collapse completely at the cross.
But the resurrection revealed that what looked like failure was actually the beginning of something far greater.
The seed had gone into the ground.
And life came from it.
Two thousand years later, that little movement in first-century Galilee has become a worldwide family of people following Jesus.
That’s the kind of kingdom Jesus is describing.
Keep Planting
So don’t underestimate the conversation.
Don’t underestimate the prayer, the invitation, the child, the volunteer, the neighbour, the small act of generosity, the decision to forgive, or the quiet act of service.
Don’t underestimate your own small step of faith.
The kingdom of God often begins like a seed: small, quiet, easy to overlook—but alive.
Our job isn’t to make it grow. Our job is to plant it, water it, nurture it, and trust God with the timing.
We may not see the harvest today. We may not see it tomorrow. We may not even see it in our lifetime.
But don’t assume nothing is happening simply because you can’t see it.
God is often doing his deepest work beneath the surface.
So keep planting. Keep loving. Keep serving. Keep praying. Keep inviting. Keep showing up. Keep following Jesus.
Because what looks like a tiny seed in your hands may be the beginning of something much bigger than you could ever imagine.
This is the way of the kingdom of God.