You And I Are Very Blessed
The disciples came to Him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
"You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. Matthew 13:10-17
He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
"You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. Matthew 13:10-17
Do you really understand the privilege you have to be a follower of Jesus Christ? Do you really understand how blessed you are to have the word of God directly spoken to you by the Son of God Himself? Do you realize that Jesus has set you apart to teach and nourish you with His teachings? Do you realize that there are many great saints and servants of God under the old covenant who would have loved to enjoy the privilege that you and I have today?
Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables without explaining the meaning to them because He knew they would attach no value to His words. To them, the words of Jesus were irrelevant to the issues of life. So life had to go on as they pleased. But the truth is, as the Scripture says in Proverbs 14:12, "There is a way that seems right to man; but the end of it is death." Jesus was willing to help them, but they were unwilling to submit to Him. They ended up in hopelessness.
But you and I are different. We are very blessed and privileged that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. We are blessed to understand life from the divine perspective. This brings meaning to life even in the face of the most awful challenges we may face. The teachings of Jesus give us adequate hope and guidance for every situation we face. He even reminds us not to allow our hearts to be troubled but to continue to trust in God. He tells us that we will have troubles in this world but we should take heart because He has already overcome the world. These are comforting and reassuring words.
Please meditate carefully over these words of Jesus: "But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it." You and I are very blessed and privileged to have God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit living in us and guiding us with the teachings of Jesus. We are very blessed to have the Holy Spirit of God breaking the word of God, which is the bread of life, to us continually. We are privileged indeed. Let's not take it for granted.
Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables without explaining the meaning to them because He knew they would attach no value to His words. To them, the words of Jesus were irrelevant to the issues of life. So life had to go on as they pleased. But the truth is, as the Scripture says in Proverbs 14:12, "There is a way that seems right to man; but the end of it is death." Jesus was willing to help them, but they were unwilling to submit to Him. They ended up in hopelessness.
But you and I are different. We are very blessed and privileged that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. We are blessed to understand life from the divine perspective. This brings meaning to life even in the face of the most awful challenges we may face. The teachings of Jesus give us adequate hope and guidance for every situation we face. He even reminds us not to allow our hearts to be troubled but to continue to trust in God. He tells us that we will have troubles in this world but we should take heart because He has already overcome the world. These are comforting and reassuring words.
Please meditate carefully over these words of Jesus: "But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it." You and I are very blessed and privileged to have God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit living in us and guiding us with the teachings of Jesus. We are very blessed to have the Holy Spirit of God breaking the word of God, which is the bread of life, to us continually. We are privileged indeed. Let's not take it for granted.
Prayer: Father, I thank you for the privilege of having access to your word. Please help me not to take this amazing blessing for granted but to continually nourish my soul with your word so that I can become a living testimony of what you intend a true disciple of Jesus to be. Amen.