Matthew 13.12 Whoever
has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have,
even what they have will be taken from them. – Jesus
This is one of the chapters in the Scripture that I would
call, ‘a hard saying.’ But I think it has more to do with humility and respect.
God’s ways are God’s ways. My job is to cooperate with God in His ways.
Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, or illustrations
out of ordinary life to explain, and describe to His hearers, about the Kingdom
of Heaven, and relationship with God. In order to comprehend all this, we moderns
must remember, Jesus was speaking to Jews. And this wasn’t their first rodeo.
God had been specifically speaking to the Jewish people for over 1400 years.
What God didn’t say to them directly, He said to them through His prophets,
priests, or kings.
So, for Jesus to say what He said in Matthew 13, was not
Jesus being a bully to them, it was His way of saying: Here is what you’ve been told for centuries, as it is expressed in
everyday living. Hence parables. Stories. Illustrations. Analogies. Look guys, I’m trying to help you understand…
By this time in Jewish history, there’d been many
re-writes and amendments to the Torah, or God’s Law. What Moses gave to them in
the desert had been with them for nearly 13 centuries. But as men are wont to
do, they found it necessary to amend, or re-write the Law as it applied to their
everyday life; and they also added to it because of historical and/or societal
changes. It was their instruction manual.
But, their instruction manual took the place of
relationship with God, and God never intended for that to happen; and a very
powerful thing called tradition
created enormous pushback. And here is where I think Jesus was going with what
He was saying: Lookit! If you don’t use
what you’ve already been given, how can you expect to receive more than that?
What you have is what you have, and you won’t use it! So, unless we go back to square one, we’re not going to make any
progress is attempting to get to square two.
They weren’t humble and respectful in their approach and
so, what they had, they lost. It’s at this point where I think this has to do
with you and me today. God continues to speak to us – generally through nature,
but specifically through His word, the Bible; and often through relationship in
prayer and communion with the saints. If we won’t pay attention to what we
think we have through these means, we stand in danger – as they did – of losing
what we think we have.
And the bottom line: God
is sovereign, and He chooses to deal with us His way, not ours. All that is
required of us is to cooperate – the very thing the Jews got out of the habit
of doing – since about Day 1. The principle, if we can call it that, is listen
to, and put into practice what God is asking us to do today. The more we prove
ourselves in that, the more responsibility He gives. It’s pretty darn simple…
Father, each of us stands alone in our relationship to
You. You deal with us collectively, but each of us must fully cooperate with
You. In listening. In obeying. Help me today to cooperate and to gain more,
lest I lose what I think I already have. Thank You for speaking and continuing
to do so. Tune my ears to hear, and my heart to obey – amen.
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