In these verses Jesus tells a parable to the priests that are trying to find ways to convict Jesus and kill him. When Jesus tells a parable he is trying to teach us a lesson. I think each time you read a parable a different message can come from that parable. This time I believe there are 2 lessons that Jesus gives to us...
1. Fight for your blessings
2. Share your blessings
So many times we asks God to do something for us. And like I said before there is nothing wrong with asking God to help and bless you. But sometimes God wants us to take a bit of initiative, and get up and make something happen. Yes, we need to continue to pray and talk to God, but if you are sick take the medicine. If you need a job, get up and look. If you want to go to school, get up and start applying. If you want tot be surrounded by more Christian people, get up and go to church. Sometimes God wants us to FIGHT for our blessings. In v4-6 the man sends all of his servants and eventually his son that he loves to go and gather the fruit. The man wanted his blessing. And even though it took numerous attempts he kept fight for it. But there are sometimes when God wants us to just sit still and not do anything. We end up praying to God to help us, but we are so busy trying to fix it ourselves God can't step in and show us some things. What is faith without action? Part of asking God for help is having the faith that He will help us. But how are we supposed to know when we are supposed to get up and fight or sit down and let God?
LISTEN.
That's right. It's as simple as that. LISTEN. God gave us one mouth and two ears for a reason. God will tell us when He wants us to sit back and let Him handle all of it, or get up and go after it. If we listen to what He says we won't go in the wrong direction. But you will only be able to hear and understand God if you build a relationship with Him. The more time you spend meditating on His word and having conversations with Him, the easier it will be for you to know when God is talking to you.
Finally, I want to talk about sharing your blessings. I have already mentioned before about spreading good news. And after reading this parable I see that sharing and spreading is important for God blessing you. These tenants were able to get this land, and when the man wanted to get the fruit from the vineyard he planted the tenants didn't want to share any of it. Just selfish. But look what happens in v9, the tenants end up getting killed and the vineyard is given to someone else. What does this tell me? God can give you something wonderful, but He can surely take it away as well. The man wasn't asking for all of the land back, he only wanted the fruit from the vineyard and the tenants would rather beat and kill this mans servants and son than give him the fruit. I must admit there are times when I am selfish with my blessing. Especially when it comes to money. I be wanting to just hold on tight to it, not even realizing that what I have recieved didn't come from a certain person but came from God. And while I'm sitting there being stingy, I might be putting on hold on someone elses blessing. And before I know it God has taken my blessing away because I was selfish. Share your blessings. Who knows, you might be someone elses blessing! Someone might see you give a dollar to a homeless person, and that person might think "Wow, (insert name) really did the right thing by doing that. I need to stop being so stingy with my money and start sharing." When we share we bless others the same way God blesses us. When we start being stingy and selfish God sees it, and just like He did those tenants He will snatch that blessing back.
- I want to be able to have such a strong relationship with God, that I will know when He wants me to get up and do something or just let Him handle it. And when God does want me to fight, I won't be lazy but actually get up and do somethings on my own but with God at my side.
- So many times I want to hold on to my blessing because I'm scared I might lose it as soon as I get it. If God gave it to me He will make sure I keep it unless He decides I need something better. I don't need to be afraid of losing something that really isn't even mine to being with.
No comments:
Post a Comment