Jesus Uses Parables

  Prayer Practice

Breath Prayer – Take 2-3 minutes today to pray a simple breath prayer. Get somewhere quiet and relaxing. Breathe in deeply, and then breathe out fully. As you breathe in, ask God to fill you with His presence, grace, love, peace, etc. Consider using the list of spiritual fruit in Galatians 5:22-23. As you breathe out, offer to God the things you need Him to take from you – sin, doubt, shame, anxiety, fear, etc. Pray this way for just a few minutes, trusting God to work, and then begin reading today’s Scripture.

DAILY READING

Luke 13

REFLECTION

Kingdom Truths

 by Kelsey Bacon

Here in this passage we find ourselves again getting a picture of Jesus' ministry, of his preaching, of his miracles. And these particular stories I think have some common themes, particularly in regards to the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus preaches and teaches about the Kingdom of Heaven often, especially through parables, but in these stories--even the ones that aren't parables--we can feel a sense of urgency in Jesus' teaching. He makes such strong, bold claims about the Kingdom, even if they aren't what the people want to hear. And I can imagine him speaking them, desperate for the people to see the truth, to turn from their wicked ways and repent. These passages tell some hard truths about the Kingdom, but they are truths indeed. Let's dig into some of these truths:

1. The Kingdom of Heaven comes on God's time. In the story of the healing of the crippled woman, we read that she had been crippled for eighteen years. God waited to heal her until just the right moment, so that the people would see and understand the lordship of Jesus and glorify God. Did she suffer? Oh yes, I'm sure she suffered greatly all those years. But the Kingdom of heaven comes in God's time, not ours. And even in the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast, you see two examples of things that take time. It takes years and years for a mustard seed to grow into a tree, and it takes much time, patience and hard work to knead yeast into sixty pounds of flour and water. Sixty pounds! Imagine how tired your arms would be?! All of these things take time--God's time. God's perfect time. The Kingdom of Heaven comes on God's time.

2. There is a certain path you must take to enter the Kingdom. This is made evident throughout this passage. But, funnily enough it's not certain things that you have to accomplish or an application you have to send in or even a literal path you take to get there, but a different kind of way. First, Jesus says you must repent. No one can enter the Kingdom if they still think that their sins were okay and they have nothing to be sorry for. Then Jesus talks about the narrow door. And here he says those on whom the door is closed will say "We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets." But the owner of the house will reply. "I don't know you or where you come from." Here we see that the path is not so easy. It's not just about the appearance of being on the path, but about the deep truth that the way provides. It's about climbing through the brambles and thickets when the path becomes more difficult to follow, about crying out to the Lord when the path takes you through the valley of the shadow of death, and crying out to him also when you reach the mountain top. It's about following Jesus' footsteps as your guide.

3. God's Kingdom is here. If there's anything that this passage clearly communicates, it's that God's Kingdom is at hand, and Jesus is Lord of it. He is the sovereign King and he tells us so clearly what he is asking us to do.

Reflect Further: The Kingdom is here, so how are we to respond? Every day, let us repent and turn to the Lord, let us pray for his timing, for his Kingdom to reign, and for him to lead us ever onward.