Overview of: MatthewToday's Reading:
Matt. 13:24-58
"Parables from a Prophet"
Focus Verses: Matt. 13:31-32
31 He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches."
Insight:
When the kingdom of heaven takes root in a person's life, it takes over. It "becomes the largest plant in the garden" and it "works its way all through the dough." When you truly find it, you value it above anything else and "sell everything to buy it." At the end of the age there will be a great sorting out of all things--the good from the bad, the righteous from the unrighteous, and the kingdom from the non-kingdom.
Response and Action:
If I believe that Jesus is the King, I must live in the ways and values of his kingdom. To accept Jesus is to surrender to his purpose and agenda in the world. If I am truly a believer and follower of Jesus, his kingdom and his righteousness will become the dominant and all-consuming center of my life. I must seek him and value him above all else.
I will do all I can to grow in my love, obedience, and knowledge in Christ Jesus. I will thoughtfully and purposefully do my best to bring all of my life--my thoughts, my actions, my choices, and my desires--into conformity with Jesus and his kingdom.
O God, your name is Holy. I long to see your kingdom established--your will lived out on earth as it is in heaven. Help me to be a person of your kingdom. Give me the faith and humility and courage to embrace Jesus as Lord and Savior. By the power and grace of your Holy Spirit, lead, teach, transform, shape, and strengthen me, that I might live a kingdom life. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
Old Testament for Today: Psalm 21:1-4
1 O LORD, the king rejoices in your strength. How great is his joy in the victories you give! 2 You have granted him the desire of his heart and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah 3 You welcomed him with rich blessings and placed a crown of pure gold on his head. 4 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him—length of days, for ever and ever.
In Context: Psalm 21
Proverb for Today: Prov. 21:1
"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases."
Recommended Reading:
The Community of the King
by Howard Snyder
