BEST KEPT SECRETS
DAY 20: I received a surprise party invite in the mail not long ago. I was really looking forward to celebrating my friend's upcoming birthday, but even more than that, it was so much fun knowing the secret! There is just something delicious about having information others don't have. Perhaps that is the appeal of gossip. It just inherently makes us feel special to have this guarded information. Let me just say for the record, however, that I am for surprise parties... I am strongly against gossip. The secrets I love are the ones that you know will bring joy when they
are exposed; and it is a special delight to be entrusted with them until
the cat is out of the bag.
And I've known some great secrets. I knew my son was going to propose to his girlfriend and even got to plan the surprise engagement party. I knew a good friend was getting the job she wanted before she knew. I knew I was pregnant for three days before I told my husband.
The list of secrets I have kept is long, but in each case, revealing the secret was almost as much fun as keeping it. Today, I was delighted that God pointed out that He has given me the privilege of knowing some of His pretty important secrets.
I read in Matthew 13 how Jesus had been sharing with the crowds some stories to help them understand what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. He told some stories about seed being scattered on the ground, but only a small portion of it took root thanks to birds, bad soil, and thorns. He told stories about weeds getting mixed in with wheat, a mustard seed that starts small but gets huge and some really good yeast in a lady's bread. He was a great story teller, and it seemed most of the crowd was happy with an entertaining story. But Jesus' close companions, his disciples, knew there was more to the stories and they came to Jesus and asked him why he told stories instead of speaking plainly.
His response must have delighted their souls:
Matthew 13 11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables... 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
How great must that have made them feel! Jesus handpicked them to know His secrets. They were just fisherman and tax collectors and such, and they were chosen even when great prophets of old were not. That is WAY better than a surprise party invite.
Since Adam and Eve left the garden, mankind has been searching for the secret of the "Kingdom of Heaven", of how to have a personal relationship with God. Jesus Christ came to tell the secret. Prophets searched for it; God-followers longed for it - but God withheld the secret of how He would reconcile the broken relationship with man UNTIL Jesus Christ came to live among us and personally tell us. But not everyone cares enough to ask. Not everyone cares enough to seek. Many refuse to open their ears or eyes when the secret is theirs for the asking. Others, have the secret, that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, but don't understand the incredible privelege of being entrusted with the Truth. They treat it as common and not even worthy of repeating. They have no idea how privileged they are.
Today, God reminded me that many who came before only had the chance to look forward to a secret God promised would one day be revealed; I get to know the secret now. And so I asked God, "What do you want me to do with this secret?"
His answer? The same one he gave to the disciples: 23 produce a huge harvest of - thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
This secret was not meant to be kept, but shared and spread. I'll keep blogging the secrets I hear as I go on my ONE YEAR WITH GOD journey. I hope you will keep coming back.
I'd love to hear how are you sharing the secret? One way is to share our blog with a friend!! You can use the links below. Go ahead... tell the secret to someone today!
JOIN THE CONVERSATION LIVE EVERY SUNDAY NIGHT 7-9PM (CST) ON KSBJ RADIO AT WWW.KSBJ.ORG
Day 20 of 365
Genesis 41:17-57
Genesis 42:1-17
Matthew 13:24-46
Psalm 18:1-15
Proverbs 4:1-6
The list of secrets I have kept is long, but in each case, revealing the secret was almost as much fun as keeping it. Today, I was delighted that God pointed out that He has given me the privilege of knowing some of His pretty important secrets.
I read in Matthew 13 how Jesus had been sharing with the crowds some stories to help them understand what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. He told some stories about seed being scattered on the ground, but only a small portion of it took root thanks to birds, bad soil, and thorns. He told stories about weeds getting mixed in with wheat, a mustard seed that starts small but gets huge and some really good yeast in a lady's bread. He was a great story teller, and it seemed most of the crowd was happy with an entertaining story. But Jesus' close companions, his disciples, knew there was more to the stories and they came to Jesus and asked him why he told stories instead of speaking plainly.
His response must have delighted their souls:
Matthew 13 11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables... 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
How great must that have made them feel! Jesus handpicked them to know His secrets. They were just fisherman and tax collectors and such, and they were chosen even when great prophets of old were not. That is WAY better than a surprise party invite.
Since Adam and Eve left the garden, mankind has been searching for the secret of the "Kingdom of Heaven", of how to have a personal relationship with God. Jesus Christ came to tell the secret. Prophets searched for it; God-followers longed for it - but God withheld the secret of how He would reconcile the broken relationship with man UNTIL Jesus Christ came to live among us and personally tell us. But not everyone cares enough to ask. Not everyone cares enough to seek. Many refuse to open their ears or eyes when the secret is theirs for the asking. Others, have the secret, that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, but don't understand the incredible privelege of being entrusted with the Truth. They treat it as common and not even worthy of repeating. They have no idea how privileged they are.
Today, God reminded me that many who came before only had the chance to look forward to a secret God promised would one day be revealed; I get to know the secret now. And so I asked God, "What do you want me to do with this secret?"
His answer? The same one he gave to the disciples: 23 produce a huge harvest of - thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
This secret was not meant to be kept, but shared and spread. I'll keep blogging the secrets I hear as I go on my ONE YEAR WITH GOD journey. I hope you will keep coming back.
I'd love to hear how are you sharing the secret? One way is to share our blog with a friend!! You can use the links below. Go ahead... tell the secret to someone today!
JOIN THE CONVERSATION LIVE EVERY SUNDAY NIGHT 7-9PM (CST) ON KSBJ RADIO AT WWW.KSBJ.ORG
Day 20 of 365
Genesis 41:17-57
Genesis 42:1-17
Matthew 13:24-46
Psalm 18:1-15
Proverbs 4:1-6
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