Bible Reading for: January 21

Matthew 13:36–58

You can look at the world through a worldly lens or through the lens of Jesus Christ. Through which lens do you see the world?

Yesterday we read of our need to be “good soil” – that is soil in which the seed of the Gospel is planted and from which a fruitful harvest springs. Jesus also spoke about a field in which weeds had been sown amongst good seed. In the parable, the master instructed the workers not to pull the weeds yet for they might pull a good plant by mistake. Today Jesus explains that parable. It is important to see the continuity of thought proceeding from yesterday’s passages into today’s. Jesus is speaking about the Kingdom of Heaven. More specifically He is speaking about those who will gain the Kingdom of Heaven.

Are you among the group that will gain the Kingdom? Are you the good soil? Are you the good seed? Jesus also shares several other parables today designed to help us understand what it means to be that good soil or seed. The parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great value are perhaps the most explicit.

The Kingdom of Heaven is of incomparable value. If you had all the money of all the billionaires in the world you would still have only a worthless pile of filth in comparison to the Kingdom. In fact, if you pursue what is of worldly value you will lose what is of eternal value. There really isn’t any comparison between the treasures of this earth and the treasures of Heaven. Our problem is we are a very “right now” kind of creatures. We want right now to be full of worldly pleasure because that is all we really know. It is hard for us cast aside the baubles we know, for the real treasure because we have never seen that treasure.

The reason we can’t seem to find that treasure buried in that field or that one pearl of great value is because we are looking through the wrong lens. I remember a few years ago seeing a movie with my daughter. It was The Spiderwick Chronicles. In that movie, some children fight against evil trolls and goblins, but the only way they can see those monsters is to look through a ring with a lens in it. Through that lens, they can see they are surrounded by these nasty beasts. I think that we today need a ring through which we can see the truth. We need something that will open our eyes and help us see what is really of value and what is truly worthless. Oh, wait a minute! We do have that lens! That lens is Jesus Christ!

How do you find that treasure? How do you find that pearl of great value? You look through the lens of Jesus Christ and He will lead you there! He will show you where to dig. He will show you where to find what is of true value. Now you may say to me “But Bill, I accepted Christ as my Savior, I submitted my life to Christ but I just don’t feel like I’ve found that treasure!” Brothers, if you truly have submitted your life to Christ then the treasure is already yours; you already have it! The problem is you don’t know what you have; you can’t see it.

Do you know the reason you can’t see it? You can’t see it because you haven’t let go of the filth you once viewed as wealth. Remember that in both the parable of the treasure and the parable of the pearl the one who found them sold all that he had to possess them. Have you truly surrendered everything to Christ? Have you truly given up everything for the sake of that great treasure? If not, you are living like a pauper when you have the resources of a king!

Start looking at the world, and your life, through the lens of Jesus Christ. Start seeing the true value of things. Let go of the filth you once called wealth and grab hold of your priceless treasure!

Vivere Victorem! (Live Victorious!)

Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Alternate Reading Plans
Chronological Order: Genesis 24–25
Old Testament Only: Genesis 42–43
Bible Order: Exodus 5-7