A Faith Harvest

A Faith Harvest

“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” Matthew 17:20

When I was a young boy, my dad and granddaddy planted a garden every spring. As soon as I could toddle after them, I was enlisted to help. In the summer and early fall, we ate fresh vegetables from those gardens, and during the rest of the year, we ate the surplus harvest that we had canned.

One of my first jobs in the garden was planting the seeds. There was a rhythm to it that I quickly learned. Corn seeds were planted every eight to twelve inches. Butter beans could be planted much closer together. But when it came time to plant the mustard seeds, I wasn’t allowed to do it. They were too small for me to handle. They’d either disappear in the pudgy folds of my hand, or they would spill out too fast and be wasted. So Dad and Granddaddy were always the ones to plant this small but very important seed.

Because I wasn’t allowed to handle them, mustard seeds took on special significance for me. So imagine my interest when I heard that Jesus described the mustard seed as a measure of faith. Most sermons I’ve heard on the topic emphasize that we only need a tiny amount of faith to do big things. But my understanding is quite different because of my experience in the garden.

When I read today’s verse, I ask myself if I am ready and able to handle even that small amount of faith. Am I a good steward, planting the right amount at the right time in the right place?

If properly planted, a small amount of mustard seed produces a lot of greens. Can our faith bloom and grow in the same way? Does our faith grow to provide not only for the season in which we harvest it, but also for a surplus that will provide sustenance during even the longest and coldest winter when nothing grows?

When we harvest a great bounty of faith that was once as small as a mustard seed, I like to imagine God grinning like my granddaddy did when he anticipated a feast of mustard greens for dinner.

TODAY’S RX

Mighty faith comes from a mighty small seed.

Father, your Word reminds me time and again of how you can do a lot with just a little. Help me to remember that when I’m feeling useless or purposeless. I know you can do limitless works through me.