44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
(Matthew 13)
Jesus repeated Himself often, to make sure He drove His point home. Since He spoke in parables, He often did so three times (Just ask Peter...) We need that! We, like the twelve, are slow to understand, let alone apply, His principles. We need to learn what is truly valuable - of eternal importance, and put it first. We must also eliminiate the evil to make room for the valuable. We must also hold on to what is valuable we have already learned, and not just run to every new thing. God builds truth into our lives, brick by brick, not move us from motel to motel. So, may we continue to grow, allowing Him to pour into us what is good, while removing, sometimes with pain and sacrifice, what we wrongfully want to hold on to.
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