The Great Teacher brought His hearers into contact with nature that they might listen to the voice which speaks in all created things. As their hearts became tender and their minds receptive, He helped them to interpret the spiritual teaching of the scenes on which their eyes rested. The parables, by means of which He loved to teach lessons of truth, show how open His spirit was to the influences of nature and how He delighted to gather the spiritual teaching from the surroundings of daily life.
The birds of the air, the lilies of the field, the sower and the seed, the shepherd and the sheep--with these Christ illustrated immortal truth. He drew illustrations also from the events of life, facts of experience familiar to His audience--the leaven, the hid treasure, the pearl, the fishing net, the lost coin, the prodigal son, the houses on the rock and the sand. In His lessons there was something to interest every mind and appeal to every heart. Thus the daily task, instead of being a mere round of toil, bereft of higher thoughts, was brightened and uplifted by constant reminders of the spiritual and the unseen.
So we should teach. Let children learn to see in nature an expression of the love and wisdom of God. Let the thought of Him be linked with bird and flower and tree. Let all things seen become interpreters of the unseen. In this way all the events of life will be a means of divine teaching.
As they learn thus to study the lessons in all created things and in all life's experiences, show that the same laws are given for our good, and that only in obedience to them can we find true happiness and success.
The Law of Ministry
All things both in heaven and in earth declare that the great law of life is a law of service. The infinite Father ministers to the life of every living thing. Christ came to the earth "as the One who serves." Luke 22:27. The angels are "ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation." Hebrews 1:14. The same law of service is written on all things in nature. The birds of the air, the beasts of the field, the trees of the forest, the leaves, the grass, and the flowers, the sun in the heavens, and the stars of light--all have their ministry. Lake and ocean, river and water spring--each takes to give.
As each thing in nature ministers to the world's life, it also secures its own. "Give, and it shall be given to you" (Luke 6:38) is the lesson written no less surely in nature than in the pages of God's Word.
As the hillsides and the plains open a channel for the mountain stream to reach the sea, that which they give is repaid a hundredfold. The stream that goes singing on its way leaves behind its gift of beauty and fruitfulness. Through the fields, bare and brown under the summer's heat, a line of green marks the river's course. Every noble tree, every bud, every blossom, is a witness of God's grace to all who become its channels to the world.
Sowing in Faith
Of the almost innumerable lessons taught in the varied processes of growth, some of the most precious are conveyed in the Savior's parable of the growing seed. It has lessons for both old and young.
"The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself; first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head." Mark 4:26-28, NRSV.
The seed has a germinating principle, a principle that God Himself has implanted, yet if left to itself the seed would have no power to spring up. Human beings have their part to act in promoting the growth of the grain, but there is a point beyond which they can accomplish nothing. They must depend upon One who has connected the sowing and the reaping by wonderful links of His own omnipotent power.
There is life in the seed, there is power in the soil, but unless infinite power is exercised day and night, the seed will yield no return. The showers of rain must refresh the thirsty fields; the sun must impart warmth, electricity must be conveyed to the buried seed. The life that the Creator has implanted, He alone can call forth. Every seed grows, every plant develops, by the power of God.
The work of those who sow is a work of faith. They cannot understand the mystery of the germination and growth of the seed, but they have confidence in the agencies by which God causes vegetation to flourish. They scatter the seed, expecting to gather it manyfold in an abundant harvest. So parents and teachers are to work, expecting a harvest from the seed they sow.
For a time the good seed may lie unnoticed in the heart, giving no evidence that it has taken root. But afterward, as the Spirit of God breathes on the soul, the hidden seed springs up, and at last brings forth fruit. In our lifework we know not which shall prosper, this or that. This question is not for us to settle. God's great covenant declares that "while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest ... shall not cease." Genesis 8:22. In the confidence of this promise, workers of the soil till and sow. Not less confidently are we, in the spiritual sowing, to work, trusting His assurance: "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please." Isaiah 55:11.
The germination of the seed represents the beginning of spiritual life, and the development of the plant is a figure of the development of character. There can be no life without growth. The plant must either grow or die. As its growth is silent and imperceptible, but continuous, so is growth of character. At every stage of development our life may be perfect, yet if God's purpose for us is fulfilled, there will be constant advancement.
The plant grows by receiving that which God has provided to sustain its life. So spiritual growth is attained through cooperation with divine agencies. As the plant takes root in the soil, so we are to take root in Christ. As the plant receives sunshine, dew, and rain, so are we to receive the Holy Spirit. If our hearts are committed to Christ, as the Sun of Righteousness He will arise upon us "with healing in His wings." Malachi 4:2. We shall "grow like the lily." Hosea 14:5.
Jesus Our Example
The gradual development of the plant from the seed is an object lesson in child training. There is "first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head." Mark 4:28, NRSV. He who gave this parable created the tiny seed, gave it its vital properties, and ordained the laws that govern its growth. And the truths taught by the parable were made a reality in His own life. He, the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, became a baby in Bethlehem, and for a time represented the helpless infant in its mother's care. In childhood He spoke and acted as a child, honoring His parents and carrying out their wishes in helpful ways. But from the first dawning of intelligence He was constantly growing in grace and in a knowledge of truth.
Parents and teachers should aim to cultivate the tendencies of the young so that at each stage of life they may represent the beauty appropriate to that period, unfolding naturally as do plants in the garden.
The little ones should be educated in childlike simplicity. They should be trained to be content with the small, helpful duties and pleasures and experiences natural to their years. Childhood answers to the stalk in the parable, and the stalk has a beauty peculiarly its own. Children should not be forced into a precocious maturity. As long as possible, they should retain the freshness and grace of their early years. The more quiet and simple their life--the more free from artificial excitement and the more in harmony with nature--the more favorable it is to physical and mental vigor and to spiritual strength.
In the Savior's miracle of feeding the five thousand is illustrated the working of God's power in the production of the harvest. In multiplying the seed cast into the ground, He who multiplied the loaves is working a miracle every day. By a miracle He constantly feeds millions of people from earth's harvest fields. Human beings are called upon to cooperate with Him in the care of the grain and the preparation of the loaf, and because of this they lose sight of the divine agency. The working of His power is ascribed to natural causes or to human instrumentality. Too often His gifts are perverted to selfish uses and made a curse instead of a blessing. God is seeking to change all this. He desires that our dull senses shall be quickened to discern His merciful kindness, that His gifts may be to us the blessing that He intended.
It is the word of God, the impartation of His life, that gives life to the seed, and we, in eating the grain, become partakers of that life. God desires that even in receiving our daily bread we may recognize His agency and be brought into closer fellowship with Him.
By the laws of God in nature, effect follows cause with unvarying certainty. The reaping testifies to the sowing. Here no pretense is tolerated. Mortals may deceive other mortals and may receive praise and compensation for service they have not rendered. But in nature there can be no deception.
On the unfaithful husbandman the harvest passes sentence of condemnation. And in the highest sense this is true also in the spiritual realm. It is in appearance, not in reality, that evil succeeds. People in any business or profession who are untrue to their highest responsibilities may flatter themselves that so long as the wrong is concealed they are gaining an advantage. But not so; they are cheating themselves. The harvest of life is character, and it is this that determines destiny, both for this life and for the life to come.
The harvest is a reproduction of the seed sown. Every seed yields fruit after its kind. So it is with the traits of character we cherish. Selfishness, self-love, self-esteem, self-indulgence, reproduce themselves, and the end is wretchedness and ruin. If you "sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit." Galatians 6:8, NRSV. Love, sympathy, and kindness yield the fruit of blessing, a harvest that is imperishable.
In the harvest the seed is multiplied. A single grain of wheat, increased by repeated sowings, would cover a whole land with golden sheaves. The influence of a single life, of even a single act, may be just as widespread.
What deeds of love the memory of that alabaster box broken for Christ's anointing has prompted through the long centuries! What countless gifts that contribution of "two mites" by a poor unnamed widow has brought to the Savior's cause!
Life Through Death
The lesson of seed sowing teaches liberality. "The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." 2 Corinthians 9:6, NRSV.
The Lord says, "Blessed are you who sow beside all waters." Isaiah 32:20. To sow beside all waters means to give wherever help is needed. This will not tend to poverty. By casting it away the sower multiplies the seed. So it is that by imparting we increase our blessings. God's promise assures a sufficiency, that we may continue to give.
By the casting of grain into the earth the Savior represents His sacrifice for us. "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies," He says, "it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain." John 12:24. Only through the sacrifice of Christ, the Seed, could fruit be brought forth for the kingdom of God.
So it is with all who bring forth fruit as workers together with Christ. Self-love, self-interest, must perish. The life must be cast into the furrow of the world's need. But the law of self-sacrifice is the law of self-preservation. The husbandman preserves his grain by casting it away. So the life that will be preserved is the life that is freely given in service to God and humanity.
Prepare the Heart for the Seed of Truth
As parents and teachers try to teach these lessons, the work should be made practical. Children should themselves prepare the soil and sow the seed. As they work, parents and teachers can explain the garden of the heart, with the good or bad seed sown there. They can explain that as the garden must be prepared for the natural seed, so the heart must be prepared for the seed of truth. As the seed is sown in the ground, they can teach the lesson of Christ's death, and the truth of the resurrection as the blade springs up. As the plant grows, the comparisons between the natural and the spiritual sowing may be continued.
Young people should be instructed in a similar way. From the tilling of the soil, lessons may constantly be learned. No one settles on a raw piece of land with the expectation that it will yield a harvest at once. Diligent, persevering work must be put forth to prepare the ground, sow the seed, and cultivate the crop. So it must be in the spiritual sowing. The garden of the heart must be cultivated. The soil of the heart must be broken up by repentance. Evil growth that chokes good grain must be uprooted. As land once overgrown by thorns can be reclaimed only by diligent work, so the evil tendencies of the heart can be overcome only by earnest effort in the name and strength of Christ.
In the cultivation of the soil the thoughtful workers will find that treasures little dreamed of open up before them. No one can succeed in agriculture or gardening without attention to the laws involved. The special needs of every variety of plant must be studied. Different varieties require different soil and cultivation, and conformity to the laws regulating each is the condition of success.
The attention required in transplanting--so that not even a root fiber is crowded or misplaced--the care of the young plants, pruning and watering, weeding and controlling pests, not only teach important lessons concerning the development of character, but the work itself is a means of development. Cultivating carefulness, patience, attention to detail, and obedience to law, imparts a most essential training. The constant contact with the mystery of life and the loveliness of nature, as well as the tenderness called forth in ministering to these beautiful objects of God's creation, tends to quicken the mind and refine and elevate the character. The lessons taught prepare the worker to deal more successfully with other minds.