Edutainment (Matthew 13:12-14)

Good morning ladies,

The word of the day is “edutainment.”  The book of Matthew is pretty awesome.  Jesus knows that to get his message across he needs to speak in terms that everybody will understand.  We have to understand that this had to be pretty tough.  He had to be able to relate to followers, those who doubted him, religious leaders, ordinary everyday people, and every other kind of person you might imagine.  So, it is no wonder that he spoke in short stories to help others understand the points he was trying to convey.

“This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.” ~Matt 13:13

My question is: how do you best respond to learning the stuff that God thinks is important?  Jesus was pretty astute when I came to knowing his audience.  In fact, we see that in this passage that Jesus changes the entire method that is needed to help others understand the truth that he was bringing to them.  My prayer is that you find out what is most appealing to you concerning Bible stuff, and use that to your advantage to learn more.  Just as Jesus used a kind of edutainment, or education and entertainment all rolled up into one, so can you learn from God’s word in a bunch of different ways.  We only need to do a little bit of searching to understand how we will best learn the principles God has in store for us.

Praying for you,

MO

Delitescent (Matthew 13:11-13)

Good morning ladies,

The word of the day is “delitescent.”  I remember when I was little kid that I wanted to be a magician.  I thought it was pretty cool to do tricks and figure out how to make something unbelievable happen out of just everyday kind of stuff.  I also liked to read mystery novels… well, they were books at least.  In particular, there was a series called the Hardy Boys.  They were always getting themselves into some mischief and figuring out these crazy mysteries and got themselves into situations that only high level agents would experience.  It was all pretty cool stuff to me.  The Bible also talks about the mysteries that are revealed to us during our Christian walk.

And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”

~Matt 13:11-13

My question is: where do you fit in concerning the mysteries of God?  If you're like me, you have a ton of questions.  I actually thought that when I accepted Christ as my personal Lord and Savior that a lot of these questions would be tied up neatly with a little bow at the top.  I thought that I would understand everything.  Conversely, I actually began to have more questions.  It was not that I didn't believe, but that I started to gain deeper understanding of God's word.  My prayer is that you take some time to fit into your priorities this year delving into God's word and letting it penetrate your heart in a new way.  Only then can the delitescent mysteries of God's word and plans be understood.

Praying for you,

Mo