May 24, 2021
Share Your Story
He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. That is why I use these parables. (Matthew 13:11-13 NLT)
My beloved child Jesus sat down on the beach, and in no time a crowd gathered around Him. The crowd forced him to get in the boat. Imagine this… the boat was his pulpit! He started telling them stories; He was asking them, what do you make of this? A farmer planted the seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was choked out by the weeds. Some fell on good earth and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.
Are you listening? (Matthew 13:1-9) The disciples came up and asked him, ‘why do you tell stories?’ (Matthew 13:10) He replied, “You have been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift of insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. However, if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create willingness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state, they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. I don’t want Isaiah’s forecast repeated all over again: Your ears are open, but you don’t hear a thing. Your eyes are awake, but you don’t see a thing. The people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears, so they won’t have to listen; the people screw their eyes shut so they won’t have to look, so they won’t have to deal with Me face-to-face and let Me heal, them. (Matthew 13:11-15) However, you have God-blessed eyes-eyes that see! Also, God-blessed ears-ears that hear. A lot of people, prophets, and humble believers among them would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to listen to what you are hearing, but never had the chance. (Matthew 13:16-17) Do you have ears to hear and eyes to see? Jesus was a great storyteller and everyone listened.
Your personal story is important! Somebody needs to hear your story and they are waiting for you to share it! People will listen to your story. You don’t have to have a bad past to share your story, but on the other hand, if God has turned your life around – you need to share it to give God all the glory and honor for what He has done for you. Share it with someone today!
