Message: The parables in Matthew 13 are all about
those who heard the truth and for various reasons discarded or abandoned it. Because
of this Jesus spoke in parables to the multitudes intentionally because he said
“they look but they don’t really see. They hear but they don’t really listen
or understand.”
Command: “Anyone with ears to hear should
listen and understand.”
Promise: “To those who listen to my teaching,
more understanding will be given and they will have an abundance of knowledge.”
Matthew 13:12
Warning: “for those who are not listening,
even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them” (alsoMatthew 13:12)
Application: All of the parables in today’s
reading were about salvation. There is absolutely no question that this
scripture means exactly what it means. Today as I read it I looked at something
different within myself with these analogies. All of them were about people
hearing truth and believing it at the moment they heard it, but either not
retaining or not following though. The parable of the wheat and the weeds
(again about salvation) made me think of all of the things that I hear and know
are a good idea to do. Sometimes I think about starting, sometimes I start for
a while and fizzle out and sometimes I go strong for a long time and then fall
off the wagon completely. For me, a lot of this is in the area of discipline
with my health, as well as some areas of disorganization in my life. I’ve heard
enough truth in my lifetime and I’ve even lived it out faithfully for periods
of time, but often times I separate the spiritual significance of following
through and just see it as some things that would be good for me. When I read
about the weeds growing among the wheat that the devil planted I thought to
myself “you’re your OWN enemy!!!” My application today is to start taking steps
that I can and will follow through in. I don’t want to be one who just hears truth
but does nothing with it. I want to be one who follows through.
