The State of Your Mustard

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"...if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20)

This is a verse that nearly every church-raised child hears. Sometimes the Sunday School teacher even brings in props (aka. 2 millimeter mustard seeds) to show the students how very tiny a mustard seed is (aka. how tiny our faith will always be). Then, at some age, we come to the realization that none of us have the faith of an atom nucleus, let alone a mustard seed. I don't know about you, but when I stand outside and demand that the Grand Teton throw itself into the sea, it just growls and grows a little taller...and greyer.


I wondered about the size of my faith when God left a sticky note on my mental chalkboard this morning.

"I have a task for you. Gird up your faith-loins."

What size are my faith-loins? I'm pretty sure I'm teetering between super-duper-extra-small and extremely-super-duper-extra-small. Either way, I get to girding. I'm one sentence in to the unpleasant letter I must write and resort (once more) to prayer. ("Must I do this?" "How do I word it?" "Help!") In an act of either postponement or further knowledge, I flip to the book of Matthew (after looking up the mustard reference) and then pull up Wikipedia.

Did you know that mustard never grows old, mold, mildew, or creates harmful bacteria?
I think that if you believe Jesus is Lord, faith never grows old, mold, or harmful bacteria. It's always with us and can't go bad.

Did you know that mustard can last indefinitely, though it may dry out, lose flavor, or go brown?
I believe that, if we don't exercise our faith, it can dry out and lose its flavor (but still last indefinitely). Don't let your faith go brown.

Did you know that mixing in a small amount of wine or vinegar will revitalize dried mustard?
"For this is My blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins."
When we allow Christ to pour His love and Himself back into us (after shutting Him out), our faith is revitalized.

Who would have thought all this significant mustard really linked us back to Christ? What's the state of your mustard? Brown? Weak? Strong and pungent? If I were filled with mustard, I would pick Grey Poupon. It already has wine...white wine. "...though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow..." How about, "...though your mustard is like tar..." I know I take the "snow" verse out of context, but because of it I have grown more fond of the idea of white wine in my faith-mustard. I'll never look at Grey Poupon the same way again.


Now if only I had a mini mustard seed of faith inside my extremely-super-duper-extra-small faith-loins...