“Whoever has, to him shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him” (Matthew 13:12; Jesus speaking).
Yesterday I’d said that Jesus sandwiched this statement in between His “Parable of the Sower” and the explanation that He gave to His disciples. Notice He didn’t give the meaning of the parable to the “large crowds” (Matthew 13:2) that had gathered to hear Him. However, He did tell them, “He who has ears, let him hear” (Matthew 13:9). What did He mean?
To answer that question, we have to look at what He said to His disciples – you’d greatly benefit from reading all of Matthew 13, particularly verses 10-17; and you can do that online at www.BlueLetterBible.org in almost any translation you prefer.
The disciples wanted to know why Jesus taught the assembled crowds in parables. Part of His explanation was a quote from the prophet Isaiah: “This people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them” (Matthew 13:15).
When I was in elementary school, I remember one of my friends asking her older sister a question. Her sister’s reply was: “You’ve got a brain; use it.” Jesus isn’t being as harsh as that older sister, but what He is saying is that IF He is Lord of your life, your SPIRITUAL EARS have been opened, as well as your SPIRITUAL eyes. You CAN hear; you CAN see; and you CAN understand the Word of God. But you must CHOOSE to. And that requires focus and study.
Anybody can draw a crowd if the people believe they’re going to be entertained. A lot of people came to hear what Jesus had to say, but few heard with SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT.
When a person knows Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, he grows in Him; which is why I have grave concern for anyone who can spend years as a “baby” Christian – never growing. Folks, if something never grows, it ain’t alive!
When we ARE alive in Christ Jesus, we, like the seeds in the fertile soil of the Parable of the Sower, receive the Word and it grows within us. And guess what? If we’re that fertile soil, it not only grows IN us, but it bursts forth OUT of us!
Second Peter 3:18a instructs us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
When we “grow in… grace and knowledge,” we receive more “grace and knowledge,” so that we will “have an abundance” of “grace and knowledge.”
“But whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.” False religion gives you nothing lasting. It may keep you afloat temporarily, but in the end, it will come to nothing – it will “be taken away” from you. No one can punch your ticket to heaven but Jesus; and when He does, getting to heaven isn’t your one goal. Living for Him and reaching others with His Good News becomes your passion.
“We teach what we know; we reproduce what we are.” (Robert Schmidgall)
Scriptures quoted are from the New International Version (NIV).
No comments:
Post a Comment