I want to be a disciple of Christ…a follower of Him. Not a bystander and surely not someone who just rides the coattails of my salvation until the day I die.
This chapter of Matthew is chock full of some of deepest, most convicting parables and passages of scripture for me. The reason for this is that most of this chapter seems to all point to a single theme…CHOICE. It’s all about our choice on how we live out our salvation.
(13) And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”
(40-41) “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to the vinedressers?” They said to Him, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits of their season.”
These two passages focus directly to what I’m doing with what God has given me. He has provided me this temple…He has built me this vineyard. How am I managing these provisions? He has provided all that I need to succeed and glorify Him. Am I cluttering His temple with my worldly desire? To where are my fruits rendered? Am I taking that which was implanted in my life and twisting it to a self-sustaining excuse of a life? There are so many areas of my life that these questions need to be asked of.
These questions are questions that must be asked. Scripture is so clear that a life fully centered and empowered by what God has provided, is a life beyond comprehension.
(21) So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast in the sea,’ it will be done.”
I have read this verse over and over and over again. In fact, I have thought and pondered about this verse many times ever since I heard it so many years ago. And I must say that every time these words are put together in my mind…and I remember that the God of the universe promises it…honestly, it takes my breath away.
Jesus is giving us this glimpse of reality that is completely outside the human comprehension of what we think strong faith is like. He’s telling us…He’s proclaiming to us…that there is a level of faith that we can possess that can be so strong that it can move a mountain on command! This, in my opinion, is one of the strongest reminders of perspective to be found in scripture. Here we have a gift of salvation…and we’re reminded of how we constantly come up short to what God deserves…yet we’re promised the reality of great mountain moving potential.
Oh how far I have to go…but oh how great the journey and destination will be!!
~chefdave11
Sixty-six books in a year 