Read Matthew 13:31-33; 44-52

Read Matthew 13:31-33; 44-52

31 Jesus told them another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man takes a mustard seed and sows it in his field. ³²It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows up, it is the biggest of all plants. It becomes a tree, so that birds come and make their nests in its branches.”

33 Jesus told them still another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with forty litres of flour until the whole batch of dough rises.”

44 “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man happens to find a treasure hidden in a field. He covers it up again, and is so happy that he goes and sells everything he has, and then goes back and buys that field.

45 “Also, the Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man is looking for fine pearls, ⁴⁶and when he finds one that is unusually fine, he goes and sells everything he has, and buys that pearl.

47 “Also, the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Some fishermen throw their net out in the lake and catch all kinds of fish. ⁴⁸When the net is full, they pull it to shore and sit down to divide the fish: the good ones go into their buckets, the worthless ones are thrown away. ⁴⁹It will be like this at the end of the age: the angels will go out and gather up the evil people from among the good ⁵⁰and will throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will cry and grind their teeth.

51 “Do you understand these things?” Jesus asked them.

“Yes,” they answered.

52 So he replied, “This means, then, that every teacher of the Law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who takes new and old things out of his storeroom.” ^[1]

Think

The Kingdom of God is worth the sacrifice.  Someone who finds a treasure and sells everything to buy the field. Or a pearl and sells everything to buy the pearl.

Are you willing to make sacrifices for the sake of the Kingdom of God?

Pray

Lord; sometimes I take your kingdom for granted - I fail to seek it, to work with you at bringing it.  Help me to work with you so that you would reign in my heart; and you would reign in my world.

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^[1] American Bible Society. (1992). The Holy Bible: The Good news Translation (2nd ed., Mt 13:44–52). New York: American Bible Society.