MONDAY January 13th
We are returning today to the theme I had been taking us through before Christmas, based originally around the words of the hymn, ‘Jesus the very thought of thee, with sweetness fills my breast’, and we finished 2024 considering Jesus as a great storyteller with his parables.
Following on from the parable of the Sower, in Matthew 13, Jesus told a series of stories, first about the weeds, then the mustard seed and the leaven, then the parable of the hidden treasure and the parable of the pearl of great value and then the last in this chapter the parable of the net.
The theme for each of these stories was the kingdom of Heaven.
The kingdom of heaven is a) like a grain of mustard seed (vv31-32), b) like leaven (v33), c) like treasure hidden in a field (v44), d) like a merchant in search of fine pearls (45-46), e) like a net that was thrown into the sea (vv47-50).
I will sum them up with the two parables from verses 44-46
‘“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”’
The Kingdom of Heaven is better than any other kingdom that has ever been and will ever be as far as this earth is concerned, first because it is an eternal kingdom, second because it is also known as the kingdom of God, and thirdly it is a kingdom with a great King. A king who will reign forever and ever, and what is even more amazing is that this King wants us to be found in his kingdom, therefore we need to do all we can to ensure that we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
Entry into this eternal kingdom is only through the One who we have already discovered in the devotions is the way, the door, the gate, and he made the entrance available when he gave his life to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. If we link it to the parable of the Sower, the kingdom becomes available to us as we allow the seed of the word of the kingdom to take root in our lives and to become fruitful.
Therefore, we need to play our part to cherish the seed of the kingdom, treat it like the treasure hidden in a field, treat it like the pearl of great value, we need to sell, or I will put it this way, give up, get rid of anything else that may deter us from fully possessing the kingdom of heaven in our hearts and will also deter us or prevent us entering into the fulness of the kingdom when the King returns.