This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Welcome to our look together at Mark chapter 4 in Daily Drive Time Devotions,
day 3 verses 26 to 29 today. We're continuing to look at what Jesus taught us
about growth. He told the story of the seed that fell on some of it on hard
ground, some of it on good ground.

Today he tells a second story about growth, beginning in verse 26, here's what
he said. 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 of the head. As soon as the grain is ripe,
he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.

" This is a parable of the sower, and this story, this parable is almost too
simple. The example that Jesus gives to us here is almost so obvious that the
truth can elude us if we think too hard. He's telling us here some very basic
truths about growth, in fact three very basic truths about growth we're going to
look at together today.

One, God's kingdom is a growing kingdom. Two, God causes the growth, and three,
growth is a process. First Jesus tells us here that God's kingdom is a growing
kingdom, and God's people are to be growing people.

When you take a look at a garden, and that's the picture that Jesus uses here, a
farm, and you plant something, a flower or a vegetable plant, you expect growth
to happen in your garden, and you rightly feel disappointed when it doesn't
grow. This parable tells us that God's kingdom and God's people are like that.
We should expect growth in our churches.

We should expect growth in ourselves, and we should rightly feel disappointed
when that growth isn't happening. We should rightly be looking for why isn't
that growth happening. I'm not talking about the exact direction of growth.

Sometimes the direction that God takes a church in growth is different than I
expected. That's certainly true. Sometimes the direction that God takes my own
life in growth is vastly different than I expected him to take me.

I'm not talking about the direction of growth. I'm talking about just growth
itself, change in character, change in love for God and love for people, a
deepening sense of God's presence in your life. If that's not happening in a
church, in my individual life, I should feel disappointed that it's not, and I
should be looking for why it's not, because God says he intends for his kingdom
to grow.

And too often we reverse our thinking on this. We expect no growth, and we feel
overjoyed when just a tiny bit of growth occurs. Jesus is saying here, change
your attitude about that.

Put a sign on your soul that says growth is meant to happen here. Put a sign on
every church that says growth is meant to happen here. This is what God's intent
is for his kingdom.

It is a growing kingdom. That includes his church and that includes his people.
God's kingdom is a growing kingdom.

Second truth that Jesus tells us in these verses is God causes growth. It's very
clear that God is the one who's causing the growth here. He says the man
scattered the seed, but then whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed's going to
sprout, it's going to grow all by itself, it says in verse 28.

That soil produces this grain that's growing. God's at work. The man plants, he
cultivates, he waters, then he goes to bed.

Why has he stopped working? Because he realizes he has done all that he can do.
God in the end has to cause the growth that comes out of that ground.

When it comes to spiritual growth, we read and we obey and we pray and we
fellowship and then we wait upon God to cause the growth in our lives. I can
read God's word, but only God can change my soul. I can talk to God in prayer,
but only God can truly change the direction of my life.

I can spend time with other believers and learn from them about how to grow in
Christian faith, but only by God's power can true growth happen in my life.
Because this is true, he's the one who deserves the credit and prays when it
does happen, but he's also the one upon whom I depend for it to happen. If you
find yourself depending on yourself for growth, that is the biggest trap of
Christian growth.

I begin to feel like if I just went to more Christian meetings, I could make
myself grow. If I just prayed harder somehow, I could make myself grow. If I
just read more of the Bible or memorized more verses, I could make myself grow.

God may be directing you to go to a different Christian meeting or to pray more,
to read God's word more, but only do it because God directs. And as he directs
you to do it, then trust him to cause the growth. Because Christian growth is
not a matter of trying.

It is a matter of trusting. It is a matter of a relationship with him. And as
soon as I start depending on myself for growth, I've cut myself off from him,
and he's the only one that can cause the growth.

God causes growth. Now, I don't know about you, but I've gone through this
probably millions of times in my Christian life where I start to depend a little
more on myself and a little more And then God has to remind me, no, I'm the one
that you're depending on. It's so easy to depend on yourself.

It's so easy to think that you're the one that's causing the growth. It's so
refreshing when you recognize in a moment a flash of insight, I'm not the one
who's doing this. The burden isn't on me.

He's the one who's doing this. That's why Jesus was able to say, my burden is
easy, my load is light, because he's the one who takes the burden for our
growth. And he may be at that place right now, today, but you need to say to
him, Jesus, help me to take your burden into my life, which is an easy burden,
rather than my burden into my life, which is an unbearable burden.

God causes the growth. And then this simple story reminds us of a third truth.
Growth is a process.

The verses say first the blade, then the plant, then the full kernel on the
head. The plant doesn't spring full grown and bear fruit, bear grain overnight.
It's this process that takes time.

Now we all know that this is true in nature. You can't produce grain or corn
without it taking time going through a process, and the same thing is true in
our lives. Now I just want to remind you before going on in this, to remember
that a parable is a painting.

A painting of a story is to give us this one truth, this picture of growth. It's
not an analogy. Don't try to make every parable an analogy, where every part has
to mean something.

Some of us look at this and say, well, wait, he says that they put the sickle to
it. What does the sickle represent here? Does that represent the church?

Does it represent the Holy Spirit? Does it represent my small group? What does
this represent?

It's a picture. It's a picture of what happens when things grow. It grows up and
then it's harvested.

And God wants us to get the picture. It takes time to grow. In our instant
society, we all look for instant growth.

Take these five steps and in five minutes, you'll have grown by this much. Just
add the water of life and you'll get this instant growth. And because of this,
too many times, we're really messing with God's process of growth in our lives.

It's like a farmer who plants the seed and then goes out every day to dig up the
seed to see, has it grown any? Has it sprouted? Well, by digging it up every
day, he's actually spoiling the opportunity for it to grow.

He's not trusting. He's not waiting on God. And maybe you're suffering, you're
struggling with the lack of patience that so many of us struggle with so often.

And right now, today, you need to say, God, I know this is a lifetime project
you're working in me. It's not my project. It's your project.

It's not my project. It's your project. And it's a lifetime project of growth.

Growth is a process. God causes the growth and God's kingdom, God's people,
God's church are meant to grow. Let's talk to him about that right now.

Our Father, we thank you for the growth that you work into our lives. And we
recognize right now in your presence that growth is not our project, it is
yours. You're the one who has promised that you'll complete the work that you've
begun in us.

So God help us to cooperate with, to listen to, to be obedient in your project
of growth in our lives. Give us patience when we need it. Give us encouragement
that it's not depending on ourselves, it's depending on you.

But Lord, also give us hope that you are the one causing the growth, that you're
at work in our lives in ways that we cannot see. God, I especially pray for
patience today. When it's not happening as quickly as I would like, I pray you'd
give me patience to grow as only you would cause me to grow.

Patience for your work, as only you can do, to take its full measure in my life.
I pray this, Jesus, in your name, amen. Well, we're not finished talking about
growth this week.

Tomorrow we're going to look together at a third story that Jesus told in these
verses about growth.