Tell City Nazarene Church's Biblical Journey
With Pastor Charles Areson
Today's reading is Matthew 13-16
This chapter contains several parables of Jesus. They all have one theme though each has truths that each of us should learn from. The theme is growth and reward. In each parable, the desired outcome is that there is to be growth but in the parable of the sower and the weeds there are complications. In the parable of the hidden treasure and pearl, there is a great reward for those who give it all. In the parable of the net, we are shown there is going to be a reward for fish with the bad thrown out. The parables end with Jesus giving a story about storing the truths from the past and the new ones together.
The lesson I like to take from the sower is the sower has to realize that not all the seed he cast out is going to bring forth a harvest. Yes, a harvest is coming but ¾ of the seeds landed on places which would not bring forth a harvest. It is discouraging at times to work for God and think growth is taking place, but people ignore the truth, get distracted from the truth and fall away. Yet the sower has to realize a harvest is coming. The difficulty for most of those who are sowers is that we don’t know which heart is stone, weedy, rocky, or good. Often, we think someone is hard but later the harvest comes forth. At the end of the day, we must realize a harvest is coming.
The parable of the weeds reminds us that not everyone in our midst is true blue. God will judge and separate at his time. Here we learn to trust God to separate the true from those that look good, the false from those who are immature. At the end of the day, God will separate, but know this there will be a harvest in spite of the weeds.
The parable of the mustard seed and the yeast remind us that small thing can bring big results. The old saying is “Don’t despise small beginnings.” We never know what may come so don’t be discouraged.
The parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl remind us that in order to get the greater reward we need to be willing to leave everything else behind.
The parable of the net reminds us again that God is going to separate the good from the bad. In the end, God will take care of it all. There will be a reward in a great harvest of fish and God will take care of those that aren’t good.
We get to the final story where Jesus tells us to store the truths away both those from the past and the new truths. There is a great reward in holding onto the truth.
Finally, we come to the end of the chapter where Jesus is rejected by those who know him best. Instead of accepting the miracles and the teaching they doubt him because they know him. This is a reminder that there are some who will never accept us no matter what we do. If they rejected Jesus and he was perfect, then don’t be discouraged when they decide to reject what God is doing in your life.
This chapter contains several parables of Jesus. They all have one theme though each has truths that each of us should learn from. The theme is growth and reward. In each parable, the desired outcome is that there is to be growth but in the parable of the sower and the weeds there are complications. In the parable of the hidden treasure and pearl, there is a great reward for those who give it all. In the parable of the net, we are shown there is going to be a reward for fish with the bad thrown out. The parables end with Jesus giving a story about storing the truths from the past and the new ones together.
The lesson I like to take from the sower is the sower has to realize that not all the seed he cast out is going to bring forth a harvest. Yes, a harvest is coming but ¾ of the seeds landed on places which would not bring forth a harvest. It is discouraging at times to work for God and think growth is taking place, but people ignore the truth, get distracted from the truth and fall away. Yet the sower has to realize a harvest is coming. The difficulty for most of those who are sowers is that we don’t know which heart is stone, weedy, rocky, or good. Often, we think someone is hard but later the harvest comes forth. At the end of the day, we must realize a harvest is coming.
The parable of the weeds reminds us that not everyone in our midst is true blue. God will judge and separate at his time. Here we learn to trust God to separate the true from those that look good, the false from those who are immature. At the end of the day, God will separate, but know this there will be a harvest in spite of the weeds.
The parable of the mustard seed and the yeast remind us that small thing can bring big results. The old saying is “Don’t despise small beginnings.” We never know what may come so don’t be discouraged.
The parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl remind us that in order to get the greater reward we need to be willing to leave everything else behind.
The parable of the net reminds us again that God is going to separate the good from the bad. In the end, God will take care of it all. There will be a reward in a great harvest of fish and God will take care of those that aren’t good.
We get to the final story where Jesus tells us to store the truths away both those from the past and the new truths. There is a great reward in holding onto the truth.
Finally, we come to the end of the chapter where Jesus is rejected by those who know him best. Instead of accepting the miracles and the teaching they doubt him because they know him. This is a reminder that there are some who will never accept us no matter what we do. If they rejected Jesus and he was perfect, then don’t be discouraged when they decide to reject what God is doing in your life.
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