Kingdom Seeds

Have you ever really thought about the fact that we are called to build a Kingdom?

When I was a little girl I built my own little kingdom in my bedroom closet. I had everything I needed to sustain life for myself and my baby doll, Kitten. I decided who could come and go and allowed my sister to come in frequently and my brother… NEVER!

In my teen years I created my own little art studio in a tiny little attic room and that was my Creativity Kingdom. I was the sole inhabitant of that Creativity Kingdom (largely because I couldn’t fit another person in the room) and was completely in charge of all that was created there.

When I moved out of my parent’s house and got married, we built a home where my husband and I could raise our family in our own Brady Kingdom. We basically made the rules, created the economy and decided how our kingdom would look and the way it would be run.

At this stage in my life, I am much more focused on another Kingdom. The Kingdom of God that can only be seen by the fruit it produces. Sometimes we get confused about what builds God’s Kingdom and we begin to jump through the proper hoops, stop certain behaviors and begin new habits. But these are not the things that build God’s Kingdom. Conversely, they are the result of the Kingdom of God growing within our hearts.  God plants the seed of faith in the depths of our soul when we open our heart to His leadership and it grows by his mercy and grace as He reconciles us to Himself by strengthening and molds us into the person He designed us to be.

Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed in Mark 4:30-32. A tiny seed, yet within it there is the power to become a plant that is large enough for birds to find a nesting place in its shade. In fact, all seeds carry within themselves the ability to become a plant or tree that will grow and produce, given the proper nurturing environment.  Knowing that to be true, when we think of Jesus illustration, what is the condition of the seed of faith that was planted in you when you first said “Yes” to following Jesus?  Is God growing it into something that produces fruit or is it being crowded out by things that keep it from growing? Does your life reflect that God is growing in you? Do your words and actions and choices of how to spend your time, energy and money indicate that God is growing YOU to be the person He created you to be? Or does your heart harbor the things of an earthly kingdom that are not allowing God’s Kingdom space to grow?

Parents, can I share a word of caution with you? If you want your kids to become the God followers that will have a secure place in God’s Kingdom in heaven, then help them to see His Kingdom here… in your heart. Help them to understand the parable of the mustard seed. Guide them to an understanding that inheriting heaven means allowing God to grow and produce godly fruit in their lives now. Children should learn from an early age that God’s seed cannot grow in a heart crowded with sin and selfishness. Lovingly guide, just as Jesus did with his followers. Point out the sin that is holding them back, but with patience, understanding that we all struggle to make the right choices… even parents.

We won’t always get it right, but every day is a new opportunity to make the right choice, nurturing the seed of faith in our hearts and theirs, by exposing it to godliness and eliminating the wickedness that will keep growth from happening.

May God’s Kingdom grow strong within your heart.