"The Lord Often Taught With Parables"

  We have been studying parables in my New Testament class this week. The Bible Dictionary gives a great definition of a parable. In my own words, it is a story that has deeper meaning that can be found if one is willing to look for it. Christ taught in parables to protect those that were not ready to understand the Gospel. If they did not understand, they would not be held accountable before they were ready. It would be kind of like hearing a pleasant little story. For those that were ready to understand, they could learn what they needed to do from the parable and then act on it. One quick thing to remember is that all parables need to be taken for themselves. In other words, sometimes a part of a parable will symbolize something good and sometimes it will symbolize something bad. It is important to pay attention to the whole parable to make sure you understand the difference.

  Today I am going to focus on some of the parables found in Matthew 13. The first is the Parable of the Tares (verses 24-30). In this parable a man's enemy plants tares in the man's wheat field. His servants were told to let the wheat and tares grow together and then separate them at harvest, burning the tares and storing the wheat in his barn. This parable is a representation of the future growth of the church in the last days. There will be many righteous who will be saved and there will be many who grow up with the righteous, but really are not. They will be separated and burned. I think it sounds much more pleasant to be righteous!

  The next parable is the Parable of the Mustard Seed (verses 31-32). I love this parable! It talks about the mustard seed being the smallest seed, but growing up to be the "greatest among herbs" (verse 32) and becoming a tree so big that birds come to sit in it. This represents the growth of the church. It started out as a small group of people (I think there were 6 in the first meeting) in America and has grown to be a part of almost every country in the world with millions of members! I think that is pretty amazing!!

  In the next verse (33) is another parable. This one is the Parable of the Leaven. It is about a woman who hid leaven in her meal (wheat?) and the whole thing became leavened. This makes me think of missionary work. We send out missionaries to preach our happy news of the Gospel and we are able to share it with the world, like I talked about earlier. Pretty great, huh?

  The next two go together. They are the Parables of the Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price (verses 44-46). In each of these parables a man finds something of great worth and sells everything that he has so that he can keep it. These men represent members of the church who are willing to give up wealth and worldly recognition for the Gospel. I think our apostles are great examples of this concept. Many of them held very prestigious jobs before they were called to help lead the church and they left those jobs because the Gospel comes first. I hope that I would be willing to sacrifice anything to obtain the treasure of the Gospel. It is the most important thing. I would be willing to leave my home and belongings. I would leave my friends. I don't think I would ever need to leave my family, thankfully. They are on the same page as me. :) My husband sacrificed two years of his life for the Gospel when he served a mission in the Philippines. Those years could have been put toward schooling or spending time with family and friends, but he decided that following the call to serve a mission was more important. I really admire him for that. :)

  The last parable I'll mention today is the Parable of the Gospel Net (verses 47-50). In this parable a net is cast and a multitude of fish are brought in. When the fishermen get to the shore, they throw the bad ones out and keep the good fish in the boat. This kind of represents how some people choose to leave the church. All of those fish were caught in the net of the Gospel, just like us when we decide to be baptized. The sorting of the fish seems to represent Judgment. Some of the fish (or members of the church) decided to not live up to the standards and therefore will be cast out. Those that do live the standards get to stay in the boat, or the Kingdom of God. Choosing to not live up to the standards is like choosing to walk away from the church. This might be because it is hard to be righteous sometimes. It could be that the temptations of the world are more enticing than waiting for a reward. They will find out that in the end, those choices are not the way to go and that the Kingdom of God is the best choice of all, regardless of how difficult it may seem to get there. 

  I know the Gospel is true. I know that my Savior lives. I know He is there to protect us, help us when we need Him, listen when we need someone to be there, and He is the only way that we will return to our Heavenly Father some day. I know that He died for me because He loves me. Little, puny, stubborn me. And I know He would do it again in a heartbeat. I want to be like Him. I know that if I study the scriptures and learn all I can about Him, it'll help me get much closer to the person He wants me to be.

  That's my thought for the day! I hope you all have a lovely week!! :)