The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed – it makes you a blessing to others
In addition, the kingdom of heaven in us enables us to have a good effect on others – our household and our friends (especially our unconverted friends and relatives) see the changes in us and like what they see and aspire to become more like us.
Mt 13:52 And Jesus said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old."
The teacher teaches new things he learns from the Word and reiterates on old things, and becomes a blessing to his household.
Here is another picture of the kingdom of heaven.
Mt 13:31-32 He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES."
Mk 4:30-32 And He said, "How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE."
Lk 13:18-19 So He was saying, "What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and THE BIRDS OF THE AIR NESTED IN ITS BRANCHES."
The kingdom of heaven, in you, starts small and grows enormously – to the point that it becomes useful to others. For the mathematicians among you, in mathematical terms we can say that, in normal situations, growth in the kingdom of heaven is exponential.
For example, our level of repentance may start small, but it grows as the years pass, until we become examples of repentance that others can benefit from. In the beginning, we might repent only after we have cussed until we are out of breath, but as the Holy Spirit prompts us and we respond, we can come to a point where we not only stop cussing, but we start blessing, and we become encouragers and inspirers.
The key is to be faithful with what we have. When we are faithful at the level we are, God develops us to the next level, and the level after that, and so on. As Jesus said, "To everyone who has, more shall be given."
It is not God’s expectation that we grow slowly, or that we take two steps forward and one step backward, or that we stop growing before we become beneficial to the kingdom. No! We may start small, but we don’t stop until we are like the mustard seed that has become a mustard tree that provides shade and nesting to the birds of the air.
If this is not your experience then you have got to examine yourself and find out why!
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