SUNDAY SERVICE
“And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you” Luke 17:5, 6.
When the disciples saw what Jesus did; the miracles He performed and the healing crusades He conducted, they marveled. When they heard the messages He was preaching and saw the crowds He pulled they were speechless. I mean they have just heard Him teach about Lazarus and the rich man followed by the principle of forgiveness and that was just enough to move them.
They wanted to be like their Master; but it seemed He was always walking faster than they could. They remembered what He said in John 14:12 when He said; “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” They thought to themselves; “the key is in believing – the key is in faith.” They so wanted to have this power they could not wait. And they made a move. They said to Jesus; Lord, “increase our faith.”
Is this not what we’ve always been crying for? “If God could just increase my faith, I would do great exploits” We always push the responsibility away from us. “It is not that I am not willing: I am still waiting for the Lord to increase my faith”
In response to their request Jesus taught them another lesson. “So then the Lord said, ‘if you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you’” Yesterday on my way from church I got into Spar Shopping Center at The Orchards and among other things, I bought a small 100g plastic bag of mustard seeds. I didn’t open the plastic bag but just by the look of eyes the little container may be containing more than 1000 tiny seeds. Then I thought about what Jesus said to His disciples in the opening verses. I was impressed by the size of these tiny seeds. I compared them with an avocado seed and said wow! What a difference! Avos have big seeds!
There are two important lessons we can learn from this conversation;
Lesson No. 1
Just like an avocado seed (which is almost a million times the size of a mustard seed) a tiny mustard seed is able to grow a big tree. It does not require a big seed to grow a big tree. Even a tiny seed like a mustard seed can grow a big tree. It is not about the size – it is not the size of the seed that counts. You don’t buy a big seed in order to grow a big tree; it does not always work like that. The size of the seed has nothing to do with the size of the tree.
What Jesus was saying to His disciples differs completely with what we are used to. You see in the world big is beautiful. Big is best. We like big cars. Due to high oil prize automobile manufacturers are these days manufacturing small cars. Because the world system has branded in our minds that big is equivalent to success; people cut an ordinary car in the middle and extend it to a bigger car and call it a Limousine. We like big houses. Everything we buy must be big. Big has turned into a brand name. Most women like tall and broad-shouldered guys who towers over them when they walk around together. Many have lost their marriage opportunities just because they are still waiting for the tall, broad-shouldered guy to show up. It’s not in the height my sister; it’s not in the shoulders; it’s not in what he has. It’s instead in who he is.
But Jesus taught something different. He taught that value is not measured by size. It is measured by the capacity and properties in the product. When the disciples asked for Jesus to increase their faith He said something else. When they thought with big faith they could do the works of Christ; He said something else. When they bargained for more He said ‘list’ will still do. He said to them; “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you” In Matthew 17:20 He says “…if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘move… and it will do just that.
It’s not about the size; it’s about the hidden abilities in the seed. One guy once said; “it’s not the size of the dog that counts in the fight; it is the size of the fight in a dog that counts.” Don’t be deceived by measurements. Your faith, which in your eyes is small, is able to accomplish whatever your need may be. Quit judging your faith on the ‘big and small’ measurements because in the spirit sizes does not count.
Lesson No.2
Let me tell you what makes the difference. Action! All you need is to act on your faith no matter how little it might count on your weighing scale. Faith does not have to be big before it can work. Jesus said like a mustard seed, your small faith is capable of producing as much as an avocado seed size of faith; if you can just apply it. Every seed - every faith is able to release what is packed in it when it is sown.
Look into your life and check how many times you’ve been holding yourself back simply because you thought your faith was not big enough. I encourage you today; step out by faith and let your small faith do big works. Throw away the tape measure; throw away the weighing scale and release that mustard seed size of faith and leave it all to God.
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