Knee Jerk Devotional: November 5, 2020
Luke 13:18-30
Passage:
Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”
Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’
“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’
“But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’
“There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”
The really important things start small.
They start with just a bit of hope.
They start with just a little plan.
They start with just a glimpse of what could be.
They start with just a prayer.
The really important things start small.
Jesus says the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that grows into a tree or a pinch of yeast that leavens sixty pounds of flour.
Just a little and it becomes something great.
The kingdom of God is something sort of intangible. We know it when we see it. Ever since Jesus came and said that it is in our midst, it’s been growing.
Jesus’ self-sacrificial love planted the seed.
Jesus’ self-sacrificial love mixed in the yeast.
Jesus’ self-sacrificial love opened the narrow door.
Everything we need to grow and multiply the kingdom of God is in our midst.
How?
How do we grow the mustard tree?
How do we leaven the flour?
How do we find the narrow door?
We follow Jesus.
Yes, that simple. Follow Jesus. Go where he goes. Live like he lives. If we unite our lives with Jesus’ life then we will see the kingdom of God everywhere growing all around us. We begin to notice the glimpses all around us of the self-sacrificial ways that people love well. All of a sudden we see the ways that we can practice self-sacrificial love on behalf of our neighbors.
The important things start small.
The key is that they start.
What will you start today?
How will you love your neighbor as yourself today?
What work will you do in you to grow your ability to practice enemy love?
Don’t wait.
The important things start small.
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Audio Version:
https://anchor.fm/kneejerkdevotional/episodes/November-5--2020-em2c3k
Video Version: