Greater faith

The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Make our faith greater.’
The Lord answered, ‘If you had faith as big as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, “Pull yourself up by the roots and plant yourself in the sea!” and it would obey you.’ (verses 5,6)

Read Luke 17:1-10

I love my garden, and I am continually amazed at what comes out of a tiny seed. Take a look at one some time. You may even have a mustard seed in your pantry. It is such a small seed, but in it is encapsulated all the potential that God intends that plant to be. Left to itself it will never be anything other than a tiny seed. To reach its full potential, it needs to be put into soil, watered, fertilised and nurtured. Then watch it grow!

Our faith is like that. God planted that tiny seed in us at our baptism. Left to itself it will be like the seed—just a seed of faith. It needs soil, regular nurturing from God’s word and holy communion. The Holy Spirit needs to be our gardener. God has given us the means for our faith to grow, but we need to ask the Holy Spirit to nurture our faith so that it will reach the full potential of what God intends it to be. Imagine what could happen if we had faith even like that grain of mustard seed. Wow!

Lord, increase my faith. Help me to keep my faith nurtured, so that I can produce great results for you. Amen.

by Merna Thamm, in ‘Guidance for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2002)

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