“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 he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.’”

Possible meaning of each phrase

Seed on the ground — the Gospel, given by the Word of God. A farmer spreads seed evenly and widely to cover all the available ground, so we are meant to share the gospel widely and consistently.

Seed sprouts and grows while the man sleeps — man’s work is to spread God’s word and then rest while the Word grows within those who have heard it.

He himself does not know how — the work of the Holy Spirit in growing faith in people is beyond our understanding, it is not visible to others, so we simply speak as his Spirit leads us. And we may be surprised how people eventually respond while we don’t notice any changes.

The earth yields crops by itself, the blade, head, full grain — God works in people independently of those who spread the word, with faith beginning in very small ways, but eventually becoming robust and producing good works.

When the grain ripens he puts in the sickle — the growth of faith and skills within us is not simply for our own benefit, it is to be gathered and used for God’s good purpose.

Personal Application

Reading these verses is like hearing the story of my life.
As a child, I heard the gospel in Sunday School and church, from people who probably saw nothing promising in me.
But God’s word certainly worked in my life and changed me, beginning in small ways unknown to me at the time, but with eventual major outcomes that I hadn’t planned and which I would have thought were beyond me.
And then I suddenly realise that life is so short, the time to bear God’s fruit is drawing to a close and I need to do all he commands in the relatively small time that remains.

Praise God for all He has done despite my failings.