The kingdom of God is like perpetual spinach.

A friend is growing perpetual spinach in her garden. She recently explained to Sam and me how this simple but amazing plant grows and thrives by regularly harvesting. As it grows you must cut it, so more comes. This should be done in its prime – when it looks good and healthy. This can feel counterintuitive, because you might want to enjoy how it looks, or you might be concerned that once it’s cut and eaten, it’s gone. But actually the opposite is true. If the plant is to produce more, it has to give away. If it doesn’t, it will eventually stop growing and go to seed.

I told our friend that she’s like perpetual spinach. She serves and cares and gives herself away to people, despite restrictions that might cause some to hold back, and as she does that, the Lord gives her more, so she can give again. I said that the perpetual spinach in her garden is a prophetic picture of her. I think she found it helpful, and can see that as she gives herself away, she’s certainly not going to seed!

What a simple lesson from creation, which can be applied individually and corporately – to our giving of time, money, love, prayer, church planting and beyond. More comes from giving, not from withholding. Such is life in the kingdom of God.