The Upper Room 22 April 2022 Daily Devotional for Friday Message. Read The Upper Room 22 April 2022 Daily Devotional by John Sawyer (South Carolina, USA)
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TOPIC: Planting Seeds
TODAY’S READING
Mark 4:1-9
KEY VERSE: [Jesus] also said, “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.” – Mark 4:26-27 (NRSV)
The Upper Room 22 April 2022 Daily Devotional MESSAGE
In my retirement I have found that planting flower and vegetable seeds is a good way of relating to God and creation. Planting can be a time of meditation as I prepare the soil and plant or scatter the seeds. Then comes the patient waiting and hoping for the germination and sprouting of the seeds, followed by the joy of seeing the seeds turn into plants, with buds, blooms, and fruit.
Growing relationships is a lot like gardening. We sow seeds of kindness through seeing every person as one created in the image of God and thus kin to us. We sow words of kindness by speaking the truth in love. We do deeds of kindness by actively treating every person with compassion and respect — as we would like to be treated. Thinking about all this led me to Jesus’ parable of the sower. In the parable, the sower scattered the seed everywhere, regardless of the condition of the soil. We can do likewise. Then, as with gardening, we watch, wait, and hope for joyful growth in our relationships with others and with God.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Help us, God, to be generous in our thoughts, words, and deeds to everyone we meet today. Then may your love bring a harvest of loving and reconciled relationships. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Today I will sow seeds of kindness, then wait and hope for joyful growth.
PRAYER FOCUS
Someone I have treated unkindly
The Upper Room 22 April 2022 Daily Devotional Message. The Upper Room is a daily devotional magazine published in more than 30 languages and 100 countries around the world. The daily meditations are written by readers of the magazine and others interested in sharing their faith experiences through writing—both laity and clergy, published authors and new writers. The meditations are stories of real people working to live faithfully with the Bible as their touchstone. Every day, readers of The Upper Room around the world read the same story in many different languages and pray the same prayer together. Read More The Upper Room 22 April 2022 Daily Devotional
