Luke 13 v 18. “Then Jesus asked, “What is the Kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to?”

Following on the event of the women “bent over” – Luke uses these two short parables told by Jesus to illustrate that the great acts of mercy Jesus exercised would have eternal results.

Often some little word or act that is unimportant in and of itself, can have enormous ramifications. Who knows what one word of encouragement to a young person at a crucial stage of their lives will produce later on when that person emerges into full maturity.

Conversely imagine some young person being discouraged by an unkind word at a crucial stage of their lives. What repercussions that would have in later years. Who knows what fruit a hidden seed may produce?

Now, in the same way the act of releasing and restoring of an unknown woman in an unnamed synagogue somewhere in Palestine seems, in the great scheme of things, a relatively small victory. But these tiny seeds that Jesus was sowing by these gracious miracles of kindness are part of a great tree that would one day grow and cover the earth. This is what the Kingdom of God is like. It starts as a small seed, unnoticed by most, but its growth would be phenomenal.

There is yet another side to the Kingdom of God. It is hidden from view. Nobody can see what it is doing, any more than they can see what the yeast is doing when it is mixed with a large amount of flour. It eventually works its way through all the dough. So today, there is nowhere the Gospel has not nor is not making an impact. Small and unnoticed or totally unseen the Kingdom of God continues its dynamic redeeming work around the earth.

This is a good lesson for us all to remember. Often we think that our attempts at witnessing or speaking for Christ are futile. But nothing done for Christ is futile. We have no idea what seeds we are sowing in people’s lives – not only with our words but also with our deeds. Little kindnesses here and there and unconditional love shown to others may be a seed that secretly grows, or the yeast that works in someone’s life for many years. And who knows! Maybe someone who is “bent over” will one day respond to the gospel because of a word you spoke, or an action you performed, long forgotten by you, but carefully nurtured by the Holy Spirit.

Remember, God’s Kingdom will triumph. So let us never weary of doing good.

(1 Corinthians 15 v 58)