Recently, I discovered an article online which caught my attention. It was a National Geographic story from 2005 about a seed which had germinated. It was a 2,000-year-old date palm seed. It had been discovered in Masada a virtually impregnable fortress near the Dead Sea. During excavations of the ruins in the 1970s, an archeologist found a few dates pits. They remained in storage until some Jewish scientists came across them in 2005 and germinated one of them.
It was significant that through all those years, that date seed had been in an environment which prevented its germination and growth. Suddenly 2000 years later, a scientist placed it in the right environment and the dried up seemingly lifeless pit, experienced its own personal coming to life.
On at least three occasions Jesus compared faith to a seed, specifically a mustard seed, though I don’t believe the kind of seed is hugely important. Jesus used hyperbole as he compared faith to a mustard seed. In Matthew 17, He said that faith the size of a seed would enable one to move a mountain from the land into the sea. In Luke 17, He said that such faith would allow one to uproot a tree from the earth and plant it in the ocean.
On these occasions, He was teaching about faith, emphasizing that the amount of faith is not the issue. What matters about faith is that your faith is alive and that you put it in God. A tiny mustard seed in the right environment will develop and grow into a plant many times the size of the seed. A small amount of faith in God will grow and develop and bear fruit.
The potential to germinate and grow resides in the seed, but it is useless unless it is placed in the right environment - typically moist soil. The potential to bring forth spiritual life resides in our faith, but it is useless unless it is in the right object - God. Faith that is alive because it is in God changes everything.
Think of the power of faith, don’t get focused on the “mustard” part of this, think about the “seed” part. Notice that Jesus didn’t compare our faith to a speck of dust or a grain of sand, equally small things. He chose a seed because seeds are alive while dust and sand are not. He was drawing the disciples’ attention to the potential for spiritual growth and fruit bearing in their faith.
How lively is your faith? It will be lively in direct proportion to the vibrancy of the relationship which you have with the Lord Jesus. If you put your faith in Jesus, new life is guaranteed to sprout, grow and, eventually, bear spiritual fruit. Trust Him today to liberate you from the dry, dusty, dead environment of sin and into new life.
Ron Hughes
© July 2007