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Enjoy Life, Enjoy God


Dale Patterson

EMPIRICAL

May 6, 2011

We live in an empirical world; in other words, unless we see it or observe it, we struggle to believe it.

 
"What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it?  It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth.  Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade."
                                                  - Mark 4:30-32 TNIV
 
Jesus teaches not about tiny seeds, but the Kingdom of God.  But how?  He says, "I've got it!  It's like a mustard seed."  And he tells this famous parable.  His listeners, like us, are empirical--it's hard to conceive of something you struggle to see and experience, but it's there all the time.  The mustard seed turns into something big.  That we at times cannot see it, doesn't mean it isn't very real, because it becomes the place for many to find life.
  
Today, we all live in the kingdom of this world.  But the kingdom of God is at hand.  Let us not be duped, let us not make the mistake of wrongly concluding that we struggle to see it;  therefore, it is not a living, life-giving reality.  Let's live today as citizens of the Kingdom of God, for we are!
 
Joyfully,
 
Dale Patterson