He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.
I've always taken this parable as referring to my level of faith and found it discouraging. How could I grow into a tree that would provide shelter for all? Lost cause!
But now I see how wrong I was, Jesus was telling His disciples how the Kingdom of Heaven will grow, starting with a small band of the least, as fishermen, and the despised, Matthew the tax collector, into a powerful expression of the Kingdom in the here and now.
Sometimes, I get discouraged at the rejection of the Kingdom in this nation, but my Lord and Master is telling me that the Kingdom continues to grow and cannot be stopped. Hallelujah.
Today's readings in the Psalms:
Morning: Psalm 21
Mid-day: 119:153-160
Evening: Psalm 96
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Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at theFellowship Of Ailbe bookstore. A weekly edition, formatted as a bi-fold insert and suitable for distribution can be downloaded at https://www.ailbe.org/resources/item/7251-2016-voices-together-weekly-format. The next edition is available by Thursday of the prior week.
