Of course, you know that I couldn't just narrow my favorite passage to one verse, so here's a little "pre-shower" for you.
Jesus had just finished telling the parable of the weeds. In it, a good farmer plants his seed in his field. However, at night, an enemy comes and plants bad seed in the field too. The farmer lets both kinds of seed grow all season long, but when he harvests his field he throws away the bad plants. Then, Jesus said, the righteous people (in the story, known as the good plants)...
"Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father." ~Matthew 13:43
Another point I took away from this parable is that if I am the field, I need to make sure that only good (godly) things are planted in me. It's too easy to let the devil come and plant his seed in me, but it takes a conscientious effort to send him away and let God plant His seed in me! Praise the Lord, if we want only God's seed in us He will help us achieve that goal!
Second point. When Jesus finished explaining all these parables to his disciples, he asked them if they understood. When they answered in the affirmative, Jesus said,
"Therefore, every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old." ~Matthew 13:52
Isn't that a cool verse?
I also felt a lot of sympathy for the people of Nazareth, for when Jesus came to them they could not believe that this hometown boy had such miraculous powers. The sad conclusion to the story:
"And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith." ~Matthew 13:58
OK. Now onto our SOAP for the day!
Scripture:
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." ~Matthew 13:44
Observation:
Imagine yourself on both sides of the coin. Place yourself in the place of the man, who knows that he (and possibly his family--the Bible doesn't tell) will be unimaginably rich if he just sells all that he has to buy the field. Now suppose the man has a wife. What will she think when her husband asks her to sell everything she's got to buy some old field? I just thought that was interesting as I read this passage.
Application:
Sometimes, to be a Christian and to gain the kingdom of heaven may mean giving everything you have. Now not every Christian becomes a martyr, but God stills asks us to give us something....to gain even more. When I'm going through a hard time and it seems like God is taking a bunch of stuff away, I can remember that it is for my good and that God has even better stuff in store for me!
Prayer:
Dear God, help me to remember that when it seems like You are taking things away from me that You have a plan for giving me even better things. Thank You for being the awesome God You are. Amen.
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