31 OCT 23 Tuesday: A Closer Walk Devotional
“A large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat there and taught as the people stood on the shore. He told many stories in the form of parables.” Matthew 13:2-3a
Think about how many people you interact with on a daily basis. You take the kids to school, go to the store, to the gym, to work, and a variety of other places. If you were to guess how many people that would be, what do you think? 20, 30, 50? That number will differ for each of us, but God will use our interactions to change the world around us, often one person at a time.
Jesus spent a great deal of time traveling through towns and villages to share the good news, to heal, and to deliver people from demonic bondage. As news traveled, the crowds began to come to him as well. He used those interactions strategically, looking for people to become disciples. In order to do that, he had to filter people out of the crowds who would follow him.
Jesus used parables among other ways to get to the people he desired while conveying spiritual truth to all. The use of parables was a fulfillment of a prophecy from Isaiah that states that people will not believe when they hear it. They will be revealed as spiritually dull unless the Holy Spirit opens their understanding. The parable acts as a filter in the crowd reducing the number of people who get it thereby finding the needle in the haystack.
As you go through your daily life, you will encounter many people who will not receive the good news that you share or the hospitality you give. That’s okay because God is using the gospel as a filter so that you will be investing in the few he desires for you to have. That may only be one person and that may be just the right amount for now. You can only invest deeply in a few, not a large crowd.
Is God revealing a few people in your life to invest in?
Reading Plan: Psalm 45; Ezra 5:1-17; Rev. 4:1-11; Matt. 13:1-9
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