Polka Dot Seeds

Turn in my Bible to Luke 13, look very closely. No, look even closer!  Look, in the crevice in the bend of the book.  There, stuck between the two pages are three little yellowish shaped spheres.  Inside each of these little dots, there is a hidden plant that can grow in a wild green array to around two and a half feet tall.  From those three little seeds, if three whole plants grow and there could be thousands of seeds to come.  From tip of the roots to the top of the beautiful yellow flowers, this plant has many functions.  A versatile producer of vitamins, which can be used as a vegetable, and of course the condiment we all know and love (personally I like it best when it’s subtle).   What could they be seeds of?  Mustard of course!

Mustard has tiny little seeds, like the size of a large freckle or the head of a ball point pen – a polka dot seed.  And from there grows the plant.  People talk about having the faith of a mustard seed, it is mentioned in the Bible (yes, Luke 13 was a hint earlier).   But, what could that little seed have to do with a belief in something? 

Well, I think the obvious answer is to look at the seed itself.  I mean it’s really a very little seed, a little round dot – the miniature polka dot of seeds.  And yet, from inside of that seed there comes a plant that grows quite tall with many uses.  Faith, even when small, like a little polka dot, can hold the beginning of something much bigger and can see you through many different things.

When I put the mustard seed in the ground, I have faith that there is something that will tell it to grow, and for the roots to grow down and the stem to seek out the sun.  I can’t make it do that.  But, again, that’s like faith.  I seek, ask, grow with God in faith – but I don’t really have the power to make myself grow or change or find what I’m seeking.   The secret in that polka dot mustard seed is that it is more the seed, just like it more than just my wish or hope , there is a whole power source that is behind it.   The roots go down, soaking in the nutrients in the soil, and the plant grows up, growing strong in the wind and sun.  In faith, I must be planted deep, where the nutritional needs are met through learning and prayer.  Stretching tall, the worship, fellowship, and blessings all help me grow and spread the seeds of faith.  But, just a little seed sitting in a vacuum won’t grow – it’s cut off from it’s power source.  

I leave tomorrow for the Great Banquet.  I have spent time in preparation to not be cut off from my Power Source, but to be planted deep and watered.  Through this time, and continuing on through this weekend and on and on, I can continue to grow.  It is not because of my own power that I can do this.  It is because of the Power Source, the ultimate Power that continues to cultivate me, all the way from a polka dot seed.