Festival of St. Mary Magdalene
Posted on July 22, 2021 by under
Scripture: St. Mark 4:26-29 (NKJV)
4:26 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27 and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28 For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain ripens, immediately she puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Devotion
Do any of us know the details of how plants grow from seeds to maturity? No doubt botanists and others who work with plants regularly and directly know far more than most people; and certainly the Author of Creation knows all since He designed them. But it is to those of us who trust in the natural processes He set into motion that he speaks.
Here Jesus likens the working of God’s Word to the way that plants sprout and grow. In a garden we may plant flowers, take some care at the beginning to make sure that the soil is soft and suitable for the plants, that there is sufficient water and sun for them to grow. But most of those natural processes happen automatically–the plant grows and bears fruit in due course.
When the fruit or flower is ready, the grower comes with the sickle to harvest it. This is what plants are grown for. In the same way, our Lord and Savior will also someday come to call us home to live with Him and our fellow believers forever. This should not fill us with fear, but with comfort, as on that day we will be able to leave this earthly vale of tears. Our believing friends and families will know that we have gone to be with the Lord, and they should rejoice that they will get to see us again when their turn comes, or in the great Resurrection–whichever comes first.
Prayer: O God, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and on earth, we humbly beseech Thee to put away from us all hurtful things and to give us those things which be profitable for us; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
Collect for the Festival of St. Mary Magdalene
O Gracious God, who didst work repentance and faith in the heart of St. Mary, so lead us by the working of Thy Holy Spirit that we may walk before Thee in repentance all our days and have consolation through the absolution which Thou dost grant to be proclaimed unto Thy Church; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
