Matthew 13

“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.” Matthew 13:12 NLT

Many verses in today’s chapter reference what the Kingdom of Heaven is like and how not all people will understand. Because of the lack of understanding, Jesus was telling stories to help explain. I thought that The Message paraphrased His meaning for telling parables quite well:

“You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understanding flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In there present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it.”

When we plant a garden, we first prepare the soil in order to help the seeds grow. This may require the soil to be tilled so as to soften it, or perhaps adding nutrients beforehand so that when the seed is planted it will assist in nurturing growth. For the kingdom of Heaven’s seed, a persons heart also needs to be prepared beforehand to make it receptive for nurturing.

I am not suggesting to not plant seeds because we haven’t prepared the listener’s heart first. But may we remember our story of salvation; it is personal and relational. It is in our relationship with Christ that brings us to salvation and it will be our relationship with others that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can draw them to Christ as well.