Wednesday 21 May 2014

May 21: Matthew 13:47-52

Key Verse: Matthew 13:48
which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away.

Devotion:
Jesus had a way with words that encouraged the disciples and continues to encourage us as well. The words written down may not be the exact words He said but they are how each of the disciples remembers them; they were the ones there with the understanding and they are the ones who have written those words down for us to read about now. Christ continues to try to explain His Word and His will to us through things around us, just as He was then.

It is a lot easier for us to understand things when they are explained in terms that we can understand rather than the official or exact words that define things. I still struggle with some English explanations even though my home language is English! (but then you have probably noticed that through my grammar in the past) I can understand computers and things like that much more than I can people; and yet I still manage to get God’s words down on paper for each daily devotional. I give God the glory for opening my heart and mind to His Word each day!

We have an urgency to present the Gospel to other people around us and we need to be willing to take what we understand and share it with people in new ways and in words they can understand. It is no use telling someone how great God is unless they have an understanding of what God is. I use what instead of who because many people do not grasp just how magnificent God actually is and what He can do; to them it is a case of what and not who because they do not know Him yet.

Each of us learns more about God as we study and the knowledge and understanding we build up is like a treasure to other people. The difficult part can be trying to open that treasure up to others so they can see it for what it is and not for the sake of big words! We could all just say the big words and expect God to do the explaining, but sometimes God calls us to be the fishermen who can explain it in terms of fishing or the carpenters who can explain it in terms of wood working. God can use us as long as we are willing to let Him do so!

Points to Ponder:
Do you think you are not worthy to lead?

Do you know more about God than someone else?